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How did Mark Watney make water on Mars?
In “The Martian,” Damon’s character, astronaut Mark Watney, produces water by burning leftover rocket fuel and extracts the hydrogen from the resulting chemical reaction. They must water their potatoes and keep track of how much water they administer and how often.
How do you turn hydrazine into water?
When the Hydrazine molecules meet with the Carbon Dioxide molecules they go through a process that is similar to Nuclear fusion. The molecules fuze together to create H20 or water molecules.
Can water be made from hydrazine?
Water is a basic molecule made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom – H2o. He reduced hydrazine to its component gases using small sparks to produce water.
What reacts with hydrazine to water?
Hydrazine is corrosive and a strong reducing agent, but it is a weaker base than ammonia. It reacts with water to form hydrazine hydrate, N2H4·H2O, a colorless liquid that boils at 120°C. The chloramine may be prepared by reacting ammonia with a hypochlorite or chlorine gas.
What is hydrazine in the Martian?
SPU PO3 – The Martian Nina Groenveld | VT4A Making water using hydrazine: In the movie, astronaut Mark Watney used hydrazine from the rocket fuel and separated it into nitrogen and oxygen. The formula is N2H4 → N2 + 2H2. After this he burned the hydrogen with oxygen to make water.
How is hydrazine produced?
Currently, most hydrazine is produced by the ketazine process, which is a variation of the Raschig process. Ammonia is oxidized by chlorine or chloramine in the presence of an aliphatic ketone, usually acetone. The resulting ketazine is then hydrolyzed to hydrazine.
Why did watnay burn hydrazine to produce water?
Well, he didn’t burn hydrazine to produce water. Watnay reduced hydrazine to its component gases N2 and H2 over iridium catalyst. The reactions(from Wikipedia) are as follows: 2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O which is water.
How did Mark Watney capture the water in the Martian?
In the movie The Martian, Mark Watney used that same reaction to produce the hydrogen gas and then, in combination with the oxygen in the hab, he burned the hydrogen and made water. He didn’t actually capture or store the water – he just let it accumulate and be absorbed directly into his farm soil for the potatoes.
How did Mark Watney make H2O from hydrazine?
To put it simply, Mark Watney decomposed Hydrazine to produce H2. He then combined H2 with o2 to form H2O. Hydrazine is a more powerful but toxic monopropellant. It decomposes at a temperature of around 800 deg C in contact with platinum/iridium metal into ammonia, nitrogen and hydrogen by a number of different possible paths:
How does Watney make his own water?
Watney takes the risk of creating his own water by using his oxygenator (a device that creates oxygen from carbon dioxide), extracting hydrogen from the crew’s unused hydrazine fuel (from the MDV, or Mars Descent Vehicle), and burning them to create the extra water he needs to nourish his potatoes.