Electrolysis of water a small-scale electrolytic cell. It consists of three joined upright cylinders. The inner cylinder is open at the top to allow the addition of water and the electrolyte. A platinum electrode is placed at the bottom of each of the two side cylinders, connected to the positive and negative terminals of a source of electricity. When current is run through the Hofmann voltameter, gaseous oxygen forms at the anode (positive) and gaseous hydrogen at the cathode (negative). Each gas displaces water and collects at the top of the two outer tubes, where it can be drawn off with a stopcock.
Dropping mercury electrode way. Each droplet grows until it reaches a diameter of about a millimeter and releases. The released droplet is no longer in contact with the working electrode whose contact is above the capillary. As the electrode is used mercury collects in the bottom of the cell. In some cell designs this mercury pool is connected to a lead and used as the cell's auxiliary electrode. Each released drop is immediately followed by the formation of another drop. The drops are generally produced at a rate of about 0.2 Hz. A major advantage of the DME is that each drop has