Two questions on lab 16.1 Electrolysis of water

[Will Barber]

Hi,

I've done this once and had two questions: 1) If you take the battery out after filling a couple test tubes, can you reuse it again for the same experiment, as long as it keeps bubbling?  and 2) When I look this experiment up online, most versions keep the battery out of the water and use either pencils or tacs in the water to connect to the battery with they keep outside the water?  Is there any particular reason why it would be better to do it one way or the other?  Its seems like if you put it in water you can collect the gases easier, but it's also kind of a mess to clean up with the battery gets rusty, etc.

Thanks,

Will

[Robert Bruce Thompson]

1. Yes.

2. You can do it either way. If you immerse the battery, simply rinse it
off after use and dry it.