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Water Electrolysis Rocket |
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The water electrolysis rocket is probably the most simple propulsion used by the rocket research organization. The thrust is provided by the ignition of hydrogen and oxygen gases after being separated from water through the process of electrolysis. It seems fairly safe, though we did have one explosion. |
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The entire assembly seen above is placed inside of a standard 2 litre pop bottle. For a power supply we used a 12 volt dc battery charger. To make the electrolysis work properly you must ionize the water. For this we used a small amount of sulfuric acid obtained from a car battery. We filled the bottle up approximately half full with the water-sulfuric acid solution. Once the electrolysis has worked for some time you can apply current to the ignition wire which will cause the thin wire placed on the end of the ignition wire to burn. This will light the hydrogen and oxygen produced and cause a powerful explosion that forces the cork and assembly out of the bottle. The force of the water leaving the bottle will cause the bottle to accelerate up extreme speed. Thin wire igniter- high gauge wire that burns with a couple amps of current Stainless steel cathode and anode- we chose stainless due to its high resistance to corrosion from the acid. However any conductive wire could be used Rubber stopper- homemade from a piece of rubber some glue and a grinder. Three holes were made in it to allow the wires to pass through. The holes were sealed with rubber cement. Non-conductive spacer- a safety measure to make sure the anode and cathode do no touch and short out Ignition wire- standard insulated copper speaker wire For gluing pop bottles (from Russell McMahon):
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