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can i get pure oxygen from hydrogen peroxide?


dcstegg228

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im only 15 and havent even taken chemistry in science class.. but things like this intrest me allot. i realy dont know what magnesium? whatever is and io certainly dont have it. Can i use a similar process to break it down like i do with water? or what else can i do and what will be produced?

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Not magnesium, but manganese (dioxide). Breaking down hydrogen peroxide is much easier than breaking down water, as YT2095 said, you could use manganese dioxide, or failing that, you could use your own blood, as it has an enzyme (I believe it's catalase) that will break down the peroxide to release oxygen.

 

As for hydrogen, dissolving metal in acid is an easy way to generate hydrogen gas.

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you need a catalyst to break it down, try some manganesse dioxide or even Liver! then catch the gas.

 

Using liver would certainly be the cheapest solution. Just get some cow liver from the supermarket... I've done this for a lab in school.

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Using liver would certainly be the cheapest solution. Just get some cow liver from the supermarket... I've done this for a lab in school.

 

Yup - its very fun. My chemistry teacher either underestimated the concentration of the peroxide or the abilityof catalase to break down [ce]H2O2[/ce] because it foamed up and went everywhere :)

 

Just a warning, aviod high concentrations of [ce]H2O2[/ce] otherwise you may end up with a simmilar result :)

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

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You seem to have quite an interest in chemistry, never thought about getting on a chemistry course in your highschool?

Buying a good entry-level book may also be an option. Just experimenting and mixing things, without real understanding is not that interesting. The experiments really become much more interesting is one understands what is going on.

With some basic understanding you'll also see that a lot of interesting chemistry experiments can be done already with simple household stuff and stuff from hardware stores.

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Well you could just goto the drug store, and by one of those protein removal contact solutions with cases.

 

They basically contain a dilute hydrogen peroxide solution along with a special case for it. The case contains this metal catalyst (so iron magnesium thing I'm guessing) that will cause the rapid decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide into Oxygen and water. It's alot easier than dealing with enzymes from liver, or blood. Alot cleaner too I may add.

 

Also this reaction doesn't produce hydrogen gas in any significant quantity just water and Oxygen so there isn't any need to seperate them, and yeah to get some hydrogen gas just disolve metal in acid... but be carefull...

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