Science
Amrita electrolysed distilled water using the set-up shown in figure 1. She was expecting two gases to be evolved at the anode and cathode respectively.

Suddenly, she realised that the bulb in the circuit did not glow when she used distilled water (figure 2)

After this realization, she added a substance to the distilled water for electrolysis to take place.
Answer the following questions based on the information given above:
(a) Which gas was she expecting to be formed at the anode and which one at the cathode respectively?
(b) Why did the bulb not glow when Amrita passed electricity through distilled water?
(c) Which substance was added by Amrita to distilled water to get the expected result?
Chemical Reaction
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Answer
(a) Amrita was expecting oxygen gas to be formed at the anode and hydrogen gas to be formed at the cathode.
(b) The bulb did not glow because distilled water is a poor conductor of electricity. Pure water has few ions, which are necessary to carry electric current. Since it lacks free ions, current cannot flow through it, and therefore, electrolysis cannot take place initially.
(c) To make the water a good conductor, Amrita added a few drops of dilute sulphuric acid (H2SO4) or a small amount of sodium chloride (NaCl).
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