Liquid Litmus consists of a thin cell filled with a dilute salt solution. The cell is viewed as one would view a painting, but it is placed on a table top. There is one thin wire electrode at the left of the cell and another wire electrode at the right. When a weak current is placed across the cell, the cell changes in wonderfully colorful swirling patterns. One can adjust the current flow across the cell and can also affect the patterns by placing a powerful magnet near the cell. The charge across the cell causes the water in the cell to be divided into mildly acidic and mildly basic solutions. Salting the water forces many of the water molecules to separate into two parts: one part is a positively charged hydrogen atom, called a hydrogen ion; the other part is a negatively charged combination of one hydrogen and one oxygen atom.