Seament Experiment

1. 0:00- Made the setup. Used 2 liters of sea water, a plastic container, a 9V battery, and two meshes of copper wire. One of them is a grid held in place with tape, about 5 inches by 4 inches, the other, because I got sick of taping up the grid, is a really frayed wire, with about 4 inches of bare wire spread about 4 inches apart. The scale of this experiment is obviously limited, I just want to see if it can be done. I would have preferred to use metal window screen, but my search for it has been fruitless. I tried steel wool, but it tends to burn at any current over 3 volts. I hooked the battery up to the meshes, and put them in the water about an inch and a half apart. Bubbles instantly started to come off them, something is definitely happening.

2. 0:45- The bubbles could just be electrolysis, splitting water in to hydrogen and oxygen. If it is, I'm not going to hold a match near them and find out. But, it presents possibilities for regaining some of the energy spent making this. I have rigged a plastic bag over it, if it is hydrogen, the bag will start to float. The water has also mysteriously turned an opaque sky blue. That I really did not expect. It could be a natural effect, or it could be due to pollutants in the water, or soap left in the container, or a reaction with a bit of dirt that fell in.

3. 12:00- Still blue, but I can't see any bubbles. The battery might have worn out. The bag has been blown over by the wind, I'll leave it until later. I got some screen, and I know where to get more. That problem's solved, at least. Now I can rig another, better organized experiment later.

4. 27:00- Still blue, and the battery works, but it's weak. I touched the contacts to a bit of steel wool, and it took a few seconds to burn. 9V batteries are so expensive here, I'll have to invest in a rechargeable battery pack. I hate to part with that much money (maybe $22 all told), but I don't really have anything else to do with it. In the long run, it's cheaper than paying $2.60 for one battery, when I might be making oodles of this stuff for experiments. It would be worth it to finally really get moving. As I tried to take a sample of the water, I noticed a lot of sediment on the bottom of the container. I also noticed something light blue, almost white, on the wires. It could be seament, but it could just be corrosion. But I thought copper corroded green . . . The water is bubbling slightly, so whatever it is it's still happening.

5. 40:00- The experiment has come to an abrupt end. Someone, I suspect one of the kids who lives near me, has taken the entire rig. Nothing but a blue stain on the dirt. Oh well, I was planning to do a better version at some point anyway, and I just got my golden oppertunity.

I tried to make some again, using metal window screen. It didn't work. Maybe it's the metal, or maybe I put the screens too far apart. I'll try again with copper wire. I figured out why the battery wears out so fast, it short-circuits. If I hooked something else in to the wire, a resistor or something, that probably wouldn't happen.

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