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In 1776 He Made An Electric Spark-fired Methane Gas Pistol that Could Shoot a Cork

Solar collectors can produce steam that can move turbines. These are methods that could be supplying all of our energy needs now.Unfortunately, despite his work in behalf of the common man, Lavoisier lost his head to the guillotine in the French revolution, due to his association with the ruling class. It was said at his trial that 'scientists aren't needed by the revolution.' One of his friends said 'it took only a second to remove that head, and a hundred years won't produce another one like it.'

Such a scientist was he that reportedly, even after his death, he managed to do one more experiment. The story of dissimilar metals, spaced with pieces of saltwater-soaked paper. He also made the first spark-igniter device, and was the first scientist known to collect methane swamp gas for experimentation.

In 1776 he made an electric spark-fired methane gas pistol that could shoot a cork! It was later described and demonstrated before Europe's scientific community. He even proposed a form of telegraph using the pistol. Were he alive today, he would most certainly come up with something to help us in our present environmental, economic, and energy "crisis." One of his present day countrymen named Ruggero Santilli has done so, as we will see later.

Within weeks of Volta's invention of the battery, a British chemist and popular science magazine publisher named William Nicholson, with surgeon Anthony Carlisle, made one of their own, and were the first to perform the electrolysis of water, producing hydrogen and oxygen by passing the battery's electric current through the water. And according to academia, those whom we look to tell us what's do-able, we might as well stop right here. "Electrolysis uses up more energy than what you get out." And they say there is no improvement to be made on the electrolysis that these two gents did in 1805.

"Any claim to produce more gas with less current is nonsense, and you may as well deposit this book in the trashcan better yet, burn it!" Nevertheless, we will note that, since 1800, humans have goes that he asked a friend to count how many times he blinked his eyes after losing his head, to determine how long the brain continues to function after being disconnected from the body.

Alessandro Voltawas an awesome Italian inventor much to be admired and emulated. He traveled widely, sharing his discoveries with the European scientific community. In 1800 he created the first battery, known as the "voltaic pile," which made all other electro chemistry technology possible. It is depicted in the 10,000 lire note above, although you may not recognize it, for it is but a pile of alternating pieces of dissimilar metals, spaced with pieces of saltwater-soaked paper. He also made the first spark-igniter device, and was the first scientist known to collect methane swamp gas for experimentation.

In 1776 he made an electric spark-fired methane gas pistol that could shoot a cork! It was later described and demonstrated before Europe's scientific community. He even proposed a form of telegraph using the pistol. Were he alive today, he would most certainly come up with something to help us in our present environmental, economic, and energy "crisis."

One of his present day countrymen named Ruggero Santilli has done so, as we will see later. Within weeks of Volta's invention of the battery, a British chemist and popular science magazine publisher named William Nicholson, with surgeon Anthony Carlisle, made one of their own, and were the first to perform the electrolysis of water, producing hydrogen and oxygen by passing the battery's electric current through the water.

And according to academia, those whom we look to tell us what's do-able, we might as well stop right here. "Electrolysis uses up more energy than what you get out." And they say there is no improvement to be made on the electrolysis that these two gents did in 1805. "Any claim to produce more gas with less current is nonsense, and you may as well deposit this book in the trashcan~ Better yet, burn it!" Nevertheless, we will note that, since 1800, humans have been able to produce a clean burning. renewable fuel from water by adding an electrolyte and introducing a DC electric current into it. But what exactly is going on in the water during the electrolysis process?

Two bonds must be overcome to break down water. Two hydrogen atoms cling to the oppositely charged oxygen atom in a "Mickey Mouse head" configuration forming a molecule of water in a "covalent bond." But the resulting molecules have a "plus" and a "minus" side to them so they also cling together like a pile of magnets in a "hydrogen bond." This explains why a drop of water is "sticky." The electrolytic decomposition reaction is expressed thus:

2H20 = 2H2 + 02

That two water molecules break apart to form two "diatomic" hydrogen molecules and one "diatomic" oxygen molecule. This is because a lone hydrogen atom looks for a mate and so does alone oxygen atom to share electrons with. That's why you don't just get Hand 01 but H2 and 02.

Electrolysis works by passing a direct current (DC) through two electrodes inserted into an electrolyte solution, which is water with a chemical added to make it more conductive. Remember Volta used saltwater-soaked paper? But too much salt produces chlorine gas. Today, most people use either potassium hydroxide, also known as caustic potash (KOH), or sodium hydroxide, also known as lye (NAOH). These will instantly damage eye tissue. There are other chemicals that are as effective without being so dangerous. Put simply, the positively charged hydrogen atoms are attracted to the negative electrode (cathode) and they bubble to the surface. The negatively charged oxygen atoms are attracted to the positive electrode (anode) and they bubble to the surface.

This is the most basic way of decomposing water using electricity, but it is by no means the best way to do it. It normally takes more watts of electricity to perform such "brute force" electrolysis than the energy value of the combustible gas that comes out. This is because electrolysis is supplying electrons, the electrons needed, atom per atom, to overcome the bonds that tie the water molecules together. Conventional wisdom says that electrolysis cannot be improved upon due to the physics of the process.

However, even bumpkins have found that engines can be made to run on the output of an electrolyzer when the system is designed right, with a larger alternator supplying the electricity needed to decompose the water. More efficient methods of decomposing water with various and sundry waveforms, which do not resemble DC electrolysis, would take many years to discover, but this didn't stop inventors from trying their hand at using brute force DC electrolysis to make their own fuel from water. Bravo!

We must remember that, whereas batteries now existed, on board battery charging was still 100 years away from being developed, so the efficiency of DC electrolysis was not measured against the output of a car's generator. If you could build a battery and make your own fuel from water, that was enough of an accomplishment for the time being!

For simplicity, we will refer to a chamber into which some type of radiant waveform is introduced as an electrolyzer or chamber. There are actually about a dozen different ways of decomposing of water.