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Topic: Passing electricity through saline soln.  (Read 10478 times)

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WazzaB

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Passing electricity through saline soln.
« on: May 31, 2004, 09:39:14 PM »
Why does a salt solution turn yellow when an electrical current is passed through it using pieces of copper sheet?

Offline gregpawin

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Re:Passing electricity through saline soln.
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2004, 10:45:07 PM »
What kind of salt?
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Offline AWK

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Re:Passing electricity through saline soln.
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2004, 01:11:47 AM »
I guess this is NaCl solution, and at the beginning of electrolysis solution of chlorine can show pale yellow-green colour.
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Offline Mitch

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Re:Passing electricity through saline soln.
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2004, 03:09:38 AM »
Color may also be due to your electrodes eroding. What metal are you using?
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Re:Passing electricity through saline soln.
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2004, 11:05:16 AM »
I believe that in the first post he mentions copper sheets, so I believe that he is using a copper electrode.  If the electrodes were indeed corroding, the solution would take on a greenish color due to the aqueous copper ions and the chlorine.
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