Letter 28015

Will distilled water conduct electricity [New York] 

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I AM CURRENTLY DOING A 5TH GRADE SCIENCE PROJECT AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF DISTILLED WATER WILL CONDUCT ELECTRICITY AND IF IT DOES NOT CAN YOU TELL ME WHY

KASSIE B.
STUDENT - WEST BABYLON, NEW YORK, USA

This may be too advanced for 5th grade, Kassie. Everything is relative, so yes, it will conduct electricity--but very little compared to city water, well water, or salt water. The reason is that the way a liquid conducts electricity is through positively or negatively charged ions that are in it actually moving from one of the electrodes to the other, carrying charge (electricity) with them. Salt water has salt in it, NaCl, which readily ionizes or dissociates to ions of Na+ and Cl- which can float through the water carrying charge and thus conducting electricity.

Distilled water is water that was boiled to steam and recondensed to water. Any salt that was originally in it is left behind as the pure water boils away. So distilled water is relatively pure H2O (HOH). Water can ionize to H+ and OH- like salt does, but it ionizes far, far, less and is therefore quite resistant to conducting electricity.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, NJ

To what extent does distilled water ionize, and what causes it to do so? I was wondering about the possibility of running an electrical system like a PC under pure distilled water. Is this feasible?

Thanks,

Edward Sinclair
- Swaffham, Norfolk, England (near Scotland)

How does water help in transforming electricity and what are the limitations? What are the good and bad effects? I need your answer ASAP! Thank you very much!

Gilbert Solis
- Philippines

I don't have any idea at all what you mean or where you are going with that, Gilbert. Maybe you can rephrase. Otherwise, sorry.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

Water doesn't conduct electricity at all...sorry but it is true.

Joyce Eblen
- Manhattan, KS

Joyce dont be so quick to jump to conclusions based on myths youve been told all your life. The truth is water DOES conduct electricity,even PURE DISTILLED water. The fact is electrically speaking there is 3 categories of materials: Conductors, insulators, and semi-conductors. Even insulators will conduct electricity is sufficient voltage is applied to them to overcome there huge resistance.
While developing a precipitation sensor I personally conducted multiple experiments on conduction thru water and especially distilled water as rain water is mostly mineral free. I tried various brands of distilled water and even some I distilled myself thru a vat system. The results were all the same. At 12v and using the same distance apart on the electrodes I observered a current of about 70 micro amps passing thru the water. And yes, your right thats a horrible conductor but it was NOT zero it did conduct and using higher voltages would even further overcome the resistance and the results would most likely NOT be linear as you increase the voltage the resistance would break down and you would see a curved results line.

Jared Greathouse
- Chillicothe, Ohio

Indeed water can be rated by its conductivity. For example, in the semiconductor industry they often use "ultrapure" water with a conductivity of 18 micro-ohm-cm.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

I am a 6th grade student doing a science experiment on whether a battery can conduct through water to make a buzzer ring. So far I have used 2, 1.5V AA batteries with nothing, then I added another 1.5V with nothing happening. Finally, I hooked up a 9V and nothing happened. When I touched the wires together under water the buzzer rang but even if the wires were a mm apart the buzzer did not work. Do I need a stronger battery or do I really need A LOT of electricity? Or will this even work?

Barbara G.
- Fort Worth, TX, USA

I suspect that it won't work, Barbara. Do not use a higher voltage battery, as it could start getting dangerous. But maybe the water isn't conductive enough. Start with a bowl of wet salt. If that doesn't work, it doesn't work. If it does, use more water and less salt until it doesn't work..

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

Interesting.. I was just pondering this subject.. nice to know that other are inquiring.. I have always said that water is a poor conducter.. never knew any specifics though. I have ran many 12v DC applications completly submerged in H20 with no issue.

Ben Lewis
- Newberry, MI, USA

I AM IN 6th GRADE AND I AM DOING A PROJECT ON IS WATER A CONDUCTER OF ELECTRICITY AND I HAVE FIURED OUT THAT WATER IS NOT A CONDUCTER UNLESS YOU USE WELL OR CITY BECAUSE THEY HAVE MINERALS AND DISTELED WATER YOU HAVE TO ADD IMPURITYS SUCH AS SALT AND I WAS WONDERING IF I WAS RIGHT.

JIMMY PL
SCHOOL - MARBEL HILL, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES

I am the father of a second grader who is learning how water conducts.

Our experiment was performed with one AA battery, three cups half filled with water and different ammounts of salt.
and an electric motor.

At first we used a wire for the contact but found that the wire only bubbled when the battery was applied.

That didn't mean we needed more electricity or salt, it meant that we needed more surface area.
So we attached some aluminum foil to the end of each wire that was in the cups and then it worked.

In most cases, electricity travels around the outside of a solid object first.

In a liquid, because a liquid is always in motion, energy will move through the inside with ease.

In our experiment, we increased the surface area of the solid so the maximum amount of metal was touching the liquid, so the maximum amount of electricity could be transferred.


Hope this helps.

Jeromy
- Bellevue, WA

I just did an experiment w/ my daughter using a series of L.E.D.'s (+ to -) I soldered together along w/ a 1k ohm resistor between the 9volt battery and the L.E.D.'s on both positive and negative end. This experiment worked great. I used jumper wires w/ alligator clips to connect one end (+ or - doesn't seem to matter) from the battery directly (via the resistor) to the corresponding (+ to + or - to -) pole on the L.E.D.'s. On the opposite pole I used two sets of jumper wires one running from the battery to a plastic bowl of distilled water then a second jumper wire from the opposite end of the bowl(not touching the first) to the L.E.D.'s (again + to + or - to -) via the resistor. I hope this doesn't have some inherent flaw in it.

Jason Detty
- Bremerton, Washington, USA

Diodes only allow electricity to flow in one direction, Jason, so the polarity should matter. I'm surprised that it could work if the diodes were reversed, but I may have misunderstood your description. I note this so that if you start getting anomolous results, of when current flows and when it doesn't, the direction of the diodes can account for the current not flowing.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

So... if it's impossible to have truly pure, particle-free water, then we have to ask the ultimate question of: "Does water, in it's most basic, purest form, conduct?" I always thought that the answer, in theory, was no. After alot of cross-referencing and much deliberation, I've come to the tentative conclusion that, electrons, in their affinity for diffusion in favor of a conductor, will travel through any object, water included, up to a point, depending on the strength of the charge. Electrons, being what electrical currents are comprised of, are too powerfully simple, and unstoppable in their never-ending quest for molecular diffusion.
That being said, I think that since all things are made up of atoms, and that they themselves already have electrons present, that all those things already have a natural affinity for accepting the purchase of outside electrons traveling in a diffusive nature.

PFC Steve J Bell, Cmbt Medic
- Camp Taji, Iraq-OEF

First things first, Private Bell: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Very pure water used in semi-conductor fabrication is 18 megaohm-cm. You can compare this to other materials and see that the resistance is quite high. Pure water conducts very little, but it conducts. Pure water conducts very very slightly because H2O very very slightly ionizes to H+ and O--^^OH-

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

Water will not ionize to give you doubly charged O (ie. O--) but rather hydronium (H3O+) and hydroxide (OH-). The protons don't just break off, they have to be taken off.

Just adding my chemist hat's two cents.

:)

Eric Freeburg
- Jonesboro, AR

Absolutely, Eric. I can't account for my writing something which was so obviously and knowingly wrong :-)

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, NJ

50 years ago I did a science project, trying to determine whether heat affected the conductivity of electrolytic solutions. It did. I used 3 different solutions, can't remember what they were. Trying to help young friend now in High School do same experiment. I used household AC current, blew a few fuses. He is planning to use 6-volt battery, reading conductivity via a small multi-meter. It may work,(hasn't tried yet) but I don't think it would be as impressive, although safer. Do you agree, and how would be a safe way to pass AC current through containers of liquid? And should the meter be in-line, or with probes immersed in the liquid, between nails or copper rods or whatever he uses? Any suggestions on how to make it more impressive or better? I merely used hotplates to heat the solutions.

Jan Myers
- San Antonio, TX USA

You and I grew up in a different world, Jan. Passing house current through water for a high school science project would be reclkessly dangerous with its potential for electrocution.

Maybe capturing the hydrogen evolved from the passage of current, as well as measuring the current with a multimeter may make the experiment more interesting. If you are a mad scientist, maybe it could be rigged up to burn the hydrogen as it's evolved.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

Seeing as how deionized water has no ions. Would, say a portable device like a hand held still work if was submerge in the water?

Mike D.
Student - Branford, Florida United States

Yes, very pure water does conduct a little.
I would definately suggest that connecting household current directly into a container of water is unscientific and dangerous. If you really want to know, find yourself a decent multimeter, set it to megaohms, and stick
the probes in the water. Failing that, get a very cheap calculator and stick it in distilled water. If it stops working properly, you'll have your answer.

Phil Jackson
- Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Are there any superior materials you can mention that are fairly accessible that when dissolved in water will heat rapidly with electricity applied that aren't toxic? This is a science project to reinvent the jail-house immersion heater.

Thanks,

Jason N.
- Keansburg, NJ, USA

Hey Science nerds,

Today in my amazing science class, we did an experiment on the conductivity of water. We tested many differnt types of water. In are results we found out that pure distilled water did not conduct electrcity but water which had chemicals added to it like sea water did.

From this set of resits we realised that water only conducts when it forms an ion.

Please can someone reply, I would love to be part of the science gang.

Tom Year 10(mental age of a 8 year old)

Tom K
- New York

I want to answer or follow-up on this subject publicly (in non-commercial fashion).

 

I want to post a new question or inquiry of my own on a different subject.