HYDROGEN

Historical. The element hydrogen was first clearly recognized as a distinct substance by the English investigator Cavendish, who in 1766 obtained it in a pure state, and showed it to be different from the other inflammable airs or gases which had long been known. Lavoisier gave it the name hydrogen, signifying water former, since it had been found to be a constituent of water.

Occurrence. In the free state hydrogen is found in the atmosphere, but only in traces. In the combined state it is widely distributed, being a constituent of water as well as of all living organisms, and the products derived from them, such as starch and sugar. About 10% of the human body is hydrogen. Combined with carbon, it forms the substances which constitute petroleum and natural gas.

It is an interesting fact that while hydrogen in the free state occurs only in traces on the earth, it occurs in enormous quantities in the gaseous matter surrounding the sun and certain other stars.

Preparation from water. Hydrogen can be prepared from water by several methods, the most important of which are the following.

1. By the electric current. As has been indicated in the preparation of oxygen, water is easily separated into its constituents, hydrogen and oxygen, by passing an electric current through it under certain conditions.

2. By the action of certain metals. When brought into contact with certain metals under appropriate conditions, water gives up a portion or the whole of its hydrogen, its place being taken by the metal. In the case of a few of the metals this change occurs at ordinary temperatures. Thus, if a bit of sodium is thrown on water, an action is seen to take place at once, sufficient heat being generated to melt the sodium, which runs about on the surface of the water. The change which takes place consists in the displacement of one half of the hydrogen of the water by the sodium, and may be represented as follows:

          _        _            _        _

         | hydrogen |          | sodium   |

sodium + | hydrogen |(water) = | hydrogen |(sodium hydroxide) + hydrogen

         |_oxygen  _|          |_oxygen  _|

The sodium hydroxide formed is a white solid which remains dissolved in the undecomposed water, and may be obtained by evaporating the solution to dryness. The hydrogen is evolved as a gas and may be collected by suitable apparatus.

Other metals, such as magnesium and iron, decompose water rapidly, but only at higher temperatures. When steam is passed over hot iron, for example, the iron combines with the oxygen of the steam, thus displacing the hydrogen. Experiments show that the change may be represented as follows:

        _        _

       | hydrogen |           _       _                 _        _

iron + | hydrogen |(water) = | iron    |(iron oxide) + | hydrogen |

       |_oxygen  _|          |_oxygen _|               |_hydrogen_|

The iron oxide formed is a reddish-black compound, identical with that obtained by the combustion of iron in oxygen.

Directions for preparing hydrogen by the action of steam on iron. The apparatus used in the preparation of hydrogen from iron and steam is shown in Fig. 9. A porcelain or iron tube B, about 50 cm. in length and 2 cm. or 3 cm. in diameter, is partially filled with fine iron wire or tacks and connected as shown in the figure. The tube B is heated, slowly at first, until the iron is red-hot. Steam is then conducted through the tube by boiling the water in the flask A. The hot iron combines with the oxygen in the steam, setting free the hydrogen, which is collected over water. The gas which first passes over is mixed with the air previously contained in the flask and tube, and is allowed to escape, since a mixture of hydrogen with oxygen or air explodes violently when brought in contact with a flame. It is evident that the flask A must be disconnected from the tube before the heat is withdrawn.

That the gas obtained is different from air and oxygen may be shown by holding a bottle of it mouth downward and bringing a lighted splint into it. The hydrogen is ignited and burns with an almost colorless flame.

 

Preparation from acids (usual laboratory method). While hydrogen can be prepared from water, either by the action of the electric current or by the action of certain metals, these methods are not economical and are therefore but little used. In the laboratory hydrogen is generally prepared from compounds known as acids, all of which contain hydrogen. When acids are brought in contact with certain metals, the metals dissolve and set free the hydrogen[Pg 31] of the acid. Although this reaction is a quite general one, it has been found most convenient in preparing hydrogen by this method to use either zinc or iron as the metal and either hydrochloric or sulphuric acid as the acid. Hydrochloric acid is a compound consisting of 2.77% hydrogen and 97.23% chlorine, while sulphuric acid consists of 2.05% hydrogen, 32.70% sulphur, and 65.25% oxygen.

The changes which take place in the preparation of hydrogen from zinc and sulphuric acid (diluted with water) may be represented as follows:

        _        _               _       _

       | hydrogen |(sulphuric   | zinc    |(zinc

zinc + | sulphur  | acid)     = | sulphur | sulphate) + hydrogen

       |_oxygen  _|             |_oxygen _|

In other words, the zinc has taken the place of the hydrogen in sulphuric acid. The resulting compound contains zinc, sulphur, and oxygen, and is known as zinc sulphate. This remains dissolved in the water present in the acid. It may be obtained in the form of a white solid by evaporating the liquid left after the metal has passed into solution.

When zinc and hydrochloric acid are used the following changes take place:

        _        _                  _        _

       | hydrogen |(hydrochloric   | zinc     |(zinc

zinc + |_chlorine_| acid)        = |_chlorine_| chloride) + hydrogen

When iron is used the changes which take place are exactly similar to those just given for zinc.

 

Directions for preparing hydrogen from acids. The preparation of hydrogen from acids is carried out in the laboratory as follows: The metal is placed in a flask or wide-mouthed bottle A (Fig. 10) and the acid is added slowly through the funnel tube B. The metal dissolves in the acid, while the hydrogen which is liberated escapes through the exit tube C and is collected over water. It is evident that the hydrogen[Pg 32] which passes over first is mixed with the air from the bottle A. Hence care must be taken not to bring a flame near the exit tube, since, as has been stated previously, such a mixture explodes with great violence when brought in contact with a flame.

Precautions. Both sulphuric acid and zinc, if impure, are likely to contain small amounts of arsenic. Such materials should not be used in preparing hydrogen, since the arsenic present combines with a portion of the hydrogen to form a very poisonous gas known as arsine. On the other hand, chemically pure sulphuric acid, i.e. sulphuric acid that is entirely free from impurities, will not act upon chemically pure zinc. The reaction may be started, however, by the addition of a few drops of a solution of copper sulphate or platinum tetrachloride.

Physical properties. Hydrogen is similar to oxygen in that it is a colorless, tasteless, odorless gas. It is characterized by its extreme lightness, being the lightest of all known substances. One liter of the gas weighs only 0.08984 g. On comparing this weight with that of an equal volume of oxygen, viz., 1.4285 g., the latter is found to be 15.88 times as heavy as hydrogen. Similarly, air is found to be 14.38 times as heavy as hydrogen. Soap bubbles blown with hydrogen rapidly rise in the air. On account of its lightness it is possible to pour it upward from one bottle into another. Thus, if the bottle A (Fig. 11) is filled with hydrogen, placed mouth downward by the side of bottle B,[Pg 33] filled with air, and is then gradually inverted under B as indicated in the figure, the hydrogen will flow upward into bottle B, displacing the air. Its presence in bottle B may then be shown by bringing a lighted splint to the mouth of the bottle, when the hydrogen will be ignited by the flame. It is evident, from this experiment, that in order to retain the gas in an open bottle the bottle must be placed mouth downward.

 

Hydrogen is far more difficult to liquefy than any other gas, with the exception of helium, a rare element recently found to exist in the atmosphere. The English scientist Dewar, however, in 1898 succeeded not only in obtaining hydrogen in liquid state but also as a solid. Liquid hydrogen is colorless and has a density of only 0.07. Its boiling point under atmospheric pressure is -252°. Under diminished pressure the temperature has been reduced to -262°. The solubility of hydrogen in water is very slight, being still less than that of oxygen.

Pure hydrogen produces no injurious results when inhaled. Of course one could not live in an atmosphere of the gas, since oxygen is essential to respiration.

Chemical properties. At ordinary temperatures hydrogen is not an active element. A mixture of hydrogen and chlorine, however, will combine with explosive violence at ordinary temperature if exposed to the sunlight. The union can be brought about also by heating. The product formed in either case is hydrochloric acid. Under suitable conditions hydrogen combines with nitrogen to form ammonia, and with sulphur to form the foul-smelling gas, hydrogen sulphide. The affinity of hydrogen for oxygen is so great that[Pg 34] a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen or hydrogen and air explodes with great violence when heated to the kindling temperature (about 612°). Nevertheless under proper conditions hydrogen may be made to burn quietly in either oxygen or air. The resulting hydrogen flame is almost colorless and is very hot. The combustion of the hydrogen is, of course, due to its union with oxygen. The product of the combustion is therefore a compound of hydrogen and oxygen. That this compound is water may be shown easily by experiment.

 

Directions for burning hydrogen in air. The combustion of hydrogen in air may be carried out safely as follows: The hydrogen is generated in the bottle A (Fig. 12), is dried by conducting it through the tube X, filled with some substance (generally calcium chloride) which has a great attraction for moisture, and escapes through the tube T, the end of which is drawn out to a jet. The hydrogen first liberated mixes with the air contained in the generator. If a flame is brought near the jet before this mixture has all escaped, a violent and very dangerous explosion results, since the entire apparatus is filled with the explosive mixture. On the other hand, if the flame is not applied until all the air has been expelled, the hydrogen is ignited and burns quietly, since only the small amount of it which escapes from the jet can come in contact with the oxygen of the air at any one time. By holding a cold, dry bell jar or bottle over the flame, in the manner shown in the figure, the steam formed by the combustion of the hydrogen is condensed, the water collecting in drops on the sides of the jar.

Precautions. In order to avoid danger it is absolutely necessary to prove that the hydrogen is free from air before igniting it. This can be done by testing small amounts of the escaping gas. A convenient and safe method of doing this is to fill a test tube with the gas by inverting it over the jet. The hydrogen, on account of its lightness, collects in the tube, displacing the air. After holding it over the jet for a few moments in order that it may be filled with the gas, the tube is gently brought, mouth downward, to the flame of a burner placed not nearer than an arm's length from the jet. If the hydrogen is mixed with air a slight explosion occurs, but if pure it burns quietly in the tube. The operation is repeated until the gas burns quietly, when the tube is quickly brought back over the jet for an instant, whereby the escaping hydrogen is ignited by the flame in the tube.

A mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is explosive. That a mixture of hydrogen and air is explosive may be shown safely as follows: A cork through which passes a short glass tube about 1 cm. in diameter is fitted air-tight into the tubule of a bell jar of 2 l. or 3 l. capacity. (A thick glass bottle with bottom removed may be used.) The tube is closed with a small rubber stopper and the bell jar filled with hydrogen, the gas being collected over water. When entirely filled with the gas the jar is removed from the water and supported by blocks of wood in order to leave the bottom of the jar open, as shown in Fig. 13. The stopper is now removed from the tube in the cork, and the hydrogen, which on account of its lightness escapes from the tube, is at once lighted. As the hydrogen escapes, the air flows in at the bottom of the jar and mixes with the remaining portion of the hydrogen, so that a mixture of the two soon forms, and a loud explosion results. The explosion is not dangerous, since the bottom of the jar is open, thus leaving room for the expansion of the hot gas.

Since air is only one fifth oxygen, the remainder being inert gases, it may readily be inferred that a mixture of hydrogen with pure oxygen would be far more explosive than a mixture of hydrogen with air. Such mixtures should not be made except in small quantities and by experienced workers. 

Hydrogen does not support combustion. While hydrogen is readily combustible, it is not a supporter of combustion. In other words, substances will not burn in it. This may be shown by bringing a lighted candle supported by a stiff wire into a bottle or cylinder of the pure gas, as shown in Fig. 14. The hydrogen is ignited by the flame of the candle and burns at the mouth of the bottle, where it comes in contact with the oxygen in the air. When the candle is thrust up into the gas, its flame is extinguished on account of the absence of oxygen. If slowly withdrawn, the candle is relighted as it passes through the layer of burning hydrogen.

 

Reduction. On account of its great affinity for oxygen, hydrogen has the power of abstracting it from many of its compounds. Thus, if a stream of hydrogen, dried by passing through the tube B (Fig. 15), filled with[Pg 37] calcium chloride, is conducted through the tube C containing some copper oxide, heated to a moderate temperature, the hydrogen abstracts the oxygen from the copper oxide. The change may be represented as follows:

hydrogen + {copper} {hydrogen} {oxygen}(copper oxide) = {oxygen }(water) + copper

The water formed collects in the cold portions of the tube C near its end. In this experiment the copper oxide is said to undergo reduction. Reduction may therefore be defined as the process of withdrawing oxygen from a compound.

Relation of reduction to oxidation. 

At the same time that the copper oxide is reduced it is clear that the hydrogen is oxidized, for it combines with the oxygen given up by the copper oxide. The two processes are therefore very closely related, and it usually happens that when one substance is oxidized some other substance is reduced. That substance which gives up its oxygen is called an oxidizing agent, while the substance which unites with the oxygen is called a reducing agent.

The oxyhydrogen blowpipe.  

This is a form of apparatus used for burning hydrogen in pure oxygen. As has been previously stated, the flame produced by the combustion of hydrogen in the air is very hot. It is evident that if pure oxygen is substituted for air, the temperature reached will be much higher, since there are no inert gases to absorb the heat. The oxyhydrogen blowpipe, used to effect this combination, consists of a small tube placed within a larger one, as shown in Fig. 16.

 

The hydrogen, stored under pressure, generally in steel cylinders, is first passed through the outer tube and ignited at the open end of the tube. The oxygen from a similar cylinder is then conducted through the inner tube, and mixes with the hydrogen at the end of the tube. In order to produce the maximum heat, the hydrogen and oxygen must be admitted to the blowpipe in the exact proportion in which they combine, viz., 2 volumes of hydrogen to 1 of oxygen, or by weight, 1 part of hydrogen to 7.94 parts of oxygen. The intensity of the heat may be shown by bringing into the flame pieces of metal such as iron wire or zinc. These burn with great brilliancy. Even platinum, having a melting point of 1779°, may be melted by the heat of the flame.

While the oxyhydrogen flame is intensely hot, it is almost non-luminous. If directed against some infusible substance like ordinary lime (calcium oxide), the heat is so intense that the lime becomes incandescent and glows with a brilliant light. This is sometimes used as a source of light, under the name of Drummond or lime light.

The blast lamp. A similar form of apparatus is commonly used in the laboratory as a source of heat under the name blast lamp (Fig. 17). This differs from the oxyhydrogen blowpipe only in the size of the tubes. In place of the hydrogen and oxygen the more accessible coal gas and air are respectively used. The former is composed largely of a mixture of free hydrogen and gaseous compounds of carbon and hydrogen. While the temperature of the flame is not so high as that of the oxyhydrogen blowpipe, it nevertheless suffices for most chemical operations carried out in the laboratory.

Uses of hydrogen. On account of its cost, hydrogen is but little used for commercial purposes. It is sometimes used as a material for the inflation of balloons, but usually the much cheaper coal gas is substituted for it. Even hot air is often used when the duration of ascension is very short. It has been used also as a source of heat and light[Pg 39] in the oxyhydrogen blowpipe. Where the electric current is available, however, this form of apparatus has been displaced almost entirely by the electric light and electric furnace, which are much more economical and more powerful sources of light and heat.