How can you make hydrogen?

Answer 1

H2 is produced in chemistry and biology laboratories, often as a byproduct of other reactions; in industry for the hydrogenation of unsaturated substrates; and in nature as a means of expelling reducing equivalents in biochemical reactions.

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Laboratory syntheses
In the laboratory, H2 is usually prepared by the reaction of acids on metals such as zinc.

Zn + 2 H+ → Zn2+ + H2
Aluminum produces H2 upon treatment with acids but also with base:

2 Al + 6 H2O → 2 Al(OH)3 + 3 H2
The electrolysis of water is a simple but expensive method of producing hydrogen. Typically the cathode electrode is made from platinum.

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Industrial syntheses
Hydrogen can be prepared in several different ways but the economically most important processes involve removal of hydrogen from hydrocarbons. Commercial bulk hydrogen is usually produced by the steam reforming of natural gas.[24] At high temperatures (700–1100 °C), steam (water vapor) reacts with methane to yield carbon monoxide and H2.

CH4 + H2O → CO + 3 H2
This reaction is favored at low pressures but is nonetheless conducted at high pressures (20 atm) since high pressure H2 is the most marketable product. The product mixture is known as "synthesis gas" because it is often used directly for the production of methanol and related compounds. Hydrocarbons other than methane can be used to produce synthesis gas with varying product ratios. One of the many complications to this highly optimized technology is the formation of coke or carbon:

CH4 → C + 2 H2
Consequently, steam reforming typically employs an excess of H2O.

Additional hydrogen from steam reforming can be recovered from the carbon monoxide through the water gas shift reaction, especially with an iron oxide catalyst. This reaction is also a common industrial source of carbon dioxide:[24]

CO + H2O → CO2 + H2
Other important methods for H2 production include partial oxidation of hydrocarbons:

CH4 + 0.5 O2 → CO + 2 H2
and the coal reaction, which can serve as a prelude to the shift reaction above[24]:

C + H2O → CO + H2
Note: hydrogen is sometimes produced and consumed in the same industrial process, without being separated. In the Haber process for the production of ammonia - the world's fifth most produced industrial compound - hydrogen is generated in situ from natural gas.

Answer 2

You can't make it. It's an element. You can use electricity to break water down to it's hydrogen and oxygen components. Any chemical reaction that "produces" hydrogen is simply releasing it from somewhere. You can't create an element.

No reason not to try getting hydrogen and oxygen from the electrolysis of water at home. It's actually quite safe and done in schools by jr. high students all the time...

Simply fill a glass with water. Connect a wire to each terminal of a 6-volt lantern battery with screw terminals. Strip off an inch or two of insulation from the end of each wire and put the two wires into the glass of water, being careful not to touch the two wires together (short circuit could cause the battery to burst). Hydrogen will buble from one lead and oxygen from the other. You can catch the hydrogen and oxygen in upside-down test tubes filled with water and placed in the glass while holding your finger over the tube tops. Put 1 lead in each tube. The tube that collects gas twice as quickly is the one with the hydrogen (H2O). You can quickly remove the tube, turn it over and light the hydrogen (aim away from you).

It does take energy to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen. Wind energy could easily be used though. Creating hydrogen from wind energy is a much better way of storing the wind energy than the expensive and short-lived batteries we have now.

Answer 3

hydrogen is given off as a by product from chemical reactions simple way 2 make
Making hydrogen gas is actually very easy. Connect two wires to a 9V battery (cut the connector off an old toy or something, buy one at Radio Shack, or you can just bend paper clips around the terminals like I did), then stick the bare ends of the wire into a bowl of water and you'll get bubbles of gas coming off both wires. One is oxygen, the other is hydrogen.

Answer 4

Carefully, (He he) OK so I have a strange sense of humour.

OK hydrogen is explosive so be careful but you can use electrolysis to split the oxygen and hydrogen in water. A pair of electrodes are dipped into the water and a current passed through them. Hydrogen is cationic (positive) so it will travel to the cathode and the oxygen will travel to the anode. You can then collect the gas evolved as it bubbles up.

However the amount of energy required for this is high which is one of the reasons hydrogen is not really a viable fuel. The other being it tends to go bang

Answer 5

There are two methods now in use. Must industrial hydrogen is made from natural gas by separating out the carbon. Hydrogen can also be made by electrolysis of water. Either process requires lots of energy, so hydrogen is fairly costly.

Answer 6

you could get water and electricity together and make hydrogen and ozone

also if you got some sodium (Na) and put it into water, the gas given off is hydrogen.

don't try any of this at home.

Answer 7

Splitting up H2O in to Hydrogen and Oxygen.. but require a ton of energy.

You can try this method at home.
http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Stories/001.1/

Answer 8

go to your local florist and buy a balloon, oops thats helium
hydrogen erm .. just remove the oxygene from water.

Answer 9

Passing electricity through water, It's very easy to try this at home.

Answer 10

If you dissolve zinc in hydrochloric acid, hydrogen is given off.

But don't try it at home!