ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

Hydrogen
Notes

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

Electrolysis & some basic terms related to it

➢ Electrolysis – Passage of electric current through the liquid to bring chemical
change
*Liquid – Molten compound or its aqueous solution

✓ Electrolyte – Liquid (Molten compound or its aqueous solution) which allows

to pass electric current through it.
* Electrolyte has free ions due to which it conducts electricity

There are 2 types of electrolyte:

1) Strong electrolyte – consists of almost free ions
2) Weak electrolyte – consists of both free ions & molecules

✓ Non-electrolyte – Liquid which doesn’t allow electric current to pass through

it due to lack of free ions.

✓ Electrodes – Solid conducting material through which current reaches

electrolyte.

There are 2 types of electrode:

❖ Anode (+) → Anions migrate towards anode

❖ Cathode (-) → Cations migrate towards cathode

Methods of preparation of hydrogen

1) By electrolysis of water
✓ Electrolyte → Acidified water (Good conductor)

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

✓ Electrodes → Pt foil

✓ H2 gas is liberated at cathode

✓ O2 gas is liberated at anode

➢ This method is used to prepare hydrogen at large scale.

2) By reaction of metals with water

➢ K, Na, Ca, Mg + H2O → Hydroxide + H2

✓ K, Na, Ca reacts with cold water

✓ K, Na reacts violently with cold water

✓ Ca reacts slowly as compared to K, Na

✓ Mg reacts with hot water but reaction is slow

➢ Mg, Al, Zn, Fe (hot) + H2O (steam) → Metallic oxide + H2

Bosch’s process
❖ Large scale preparation of hydrogen

➢ Step 1

✓ Steam is passed over coke → Water gas (at 1000 ⁰C)

✓ Reaction is endothermic

➢ Step 2

✓ Water gas + steam (excess) passed over Fe2O3 (Cat) & Cr2O3 (Prom) → CO2 +
H2 (450 ⁰C)

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

✓ Reaction is exothermic

➢ Step 3

✓ Separation of CO2 + H2

❖ Method 1: Passing mixture through cold water (30 atm) → CO2 dissolves

❖ Method 2: Passing mixture through KOH solution → CO2 reacts with KOH

✓ Water gas + steam (step ii) passed through ammoniacal cuprous chloride
solution so that uncombined CO is removed

4) By reaction of metals with acids

➢ *Metals + dil. acids (HCl, H2SO4) → Salts (Chlorides, sulphates) + H2
*Metals → Above H in activity series

❖ dil. HNO3 is not used as it gives water & not hydrogen when treated with
metals
✓ But, very dil. HNO3 reacts with Mg & Mn to liberate H2

Lab preparation of hydrogen

✓ Reactants – Zn, dil. HCl/dil. H2SO4

✓ Observation

❖ Brisk effervescence is observed

▪ Zinc Granules are used as it contains impurities like Cu which acts as catalyst.

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

✓ Collection of gas

❖ Not to collect first few bubbles of gas because it also contains air from flask
& tube
❖ By downward displacement of water

❖ Why not downward displacement of air?

✓ Because mixture of air & H2 is explosive

❖ Dry H2 is collected over Hg

✓ Since Hg doesn’t react with H2

➢ Precautions

✓ Avoid leakage

✓ Avoid burning near apparatus

✓ Collection only after all air is expelled out of flask

➢ Why not metals other than Zn?

✓ Na, K → reacts violently with acids

✓ Ca, Mg → are expensive

✓ Al → has affinity towards O2 → due to which it forms oxide layer → results in

ineffective reaction with acids.
✓ Pb → PbCl2 & PbSO4 coating is formed over Pb → which stops reaction
further.
✓ Cu, Hg, Ag → are below H in activity series

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

Properties – Physical
➢ Nature

✓ Colourless

✓ Odourless

✓ Tasteless

✓ Non-poisonous

➢ Solubility in water

✓ Sparingly soluble (20 ml of H2 in 1000 ml of water at normal temperature &

pressure)

➢ Liquefaction

✓ Difficult to liquefy (-240⁰C & 20 atm)

➢ Density

✓ Lighter than air

Properties – Chemical
➢ Combustibility

✓ Combustible gas

✓ Non-supporter of combustion

➢ Reactions with some non-metals as follows:

1) O2

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

❖ Burns with blue flame to form H2O (g) → which is condensed → to form
liquid H2O
❖ Exothermic reaction

❖ (H2 + O2) mixture → is detonating mixture

✓ In (H2 + O2) mixture → if amount of air/O2 is less → then it is less dangerous

2) Cl2 (Greenish yellow gas)

❖ Product - Colourless HCl (g)

❖ Condition for reaction - Diffused sunlight

❖ Direct sunlight is not preferred → as it would result in explosive reaction

3) N2
❖ Product - NH3 (g)

❖ Condition for reaction - 450 ⁰C, Pressure > 200 atm, Finely divided Fe
(catalyst), Mo (promoter)
❖ Exothermic reaction

4) S
❖ H2 is passed through boiling S → H2S (g) (Product) → has rotten egg smell

➢ Reactions with Na, Ca (Hot)

❖ Product - Hydrides

➢ Reactions with some metal oxides

✓ H2 is passed over hot metallic oxides like CuO, PbO

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

❖ Product - Metal + H2O (g)

❑ Highly reactive metal (K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al) oxides do not give metal on
reaction with H2

Tests
❖ In air

➢ Impure H2 burns with pop sound

➢ Pure H2 burns silently with pale blue flame

Uses
➢ For cutting & welding metals

➢ As a fuel

✓ Used as fuel as it has high heat of combustion

✓ Liquid H2 is used to propel rockets

✓ Pollution-free fuel

➢ To prepare Vanaspati ghee

✓ From Vegetable oils – Soyabean, cotton seeds (By catalytic hydrogenation)

*Catalyst → Finely divided Ni/Pt/Pd

➢ Manufacture of chemicals

✓ Ammonia which is in turn used to manufacture fertilisers, nitric acid, urea

✓ Hydrochloric acid

✓ Methanol

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

➢ Extraction of metals

✓ Less reactive like Cu, Pb, Sn from their respective oxides

✓ Cannot be used on large scale because of Explosive (H2 + O2) mixture

➢ Meteorological purposes

✓ Fill weather forecasting balloons

✓ Now-a-days, He is used instead of H2 because of combustible nature of H2

Oxidation
❖ Chemical process which involves

➢ Addition of O to substance

➢ Removal of H from substance

Reduction
❖ Chemical process which involves

➢ Addition of H to a substance

➢ Removal of O from a substance

Oxidising agent
➢ Oxidises other substance

✓ By supplying O

✓ By Removing H

❖ In this process of oxidising other substances it gets itself “reduced”

Reducing agent

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ICSE Class 8 Chemistry | Hydrogen | Notes

➢ Reduces other substance

✓ By supplying H

✓ By removing O

❖ In this process of reducing other substances it gets itself “oxidised”.

Redox reaction
➢ Oxidation & Reduction both takes place simultaneously

✓ Most of reactions are redox reactions

✓ Double displacement reactions are not redox reactions

❑ Substance which gets

❖ Reduced → is Oxidising agent

❖ Oxidised → is Reducing agent

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