Chemical Forums
General Forums => Generic Discussion => Topic started by: deoxyribonucleicacid444 on June 30, 2007, 11:12:24 PM
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Can someone tell me a the reaction that happens between hydrogen peroxide and salt(with heat applied) i'm really worried that it created chlorine
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You would probably make oxygen before chlorine.
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When asking such questions you must be precise. You have not named the salt, so it can be kitchen salt or tert-Butylammonium sulfosuccinate. Effects of reaction can be completely different.
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it's table salt
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ok then here's what happened. I put in probably around 25 to 40 grams of normal table salt and then poured in a splash of 3% hydrogen peroxide (drug store grade) then heated it in the microwave for 1 minute. When I opened it it started fizzing violently(or just fizzing a lot) then I left it in there for around 1 more minute. Then took it out and poured it into a garden bed(at my house not at someone else's) after that the cup slipped out of my hand and shattered. All I'm scared of is the gas release. I'm thinking it's either H2 or chlorine and maybe oxygen.
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Most likely oxygen. Note that you will smell chlorine without problems, while oxygen is without smell. Otherwise, don't bother - amounts of gas that could be produced are probably too small for any serious problems. That's assuming 'splash' doesn't mean a pint or something ;)
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If you're not sure what the reaction is going to do and are scared about gassing yourself then stop mixing chemicals in a microwave!
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It's not about the microwave it's just that I can't afford a lab or a lab space so I do my experiments at home, that's it.
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I agree with Borek, in that is it most likely oxygen.
You can verify this, by measuring out a specific amount of NaCl and your 3% H2O2, heating the reaction and producing the same results as before (do not spill it though). And then boil away the water and see if the same amount of salt remains. Do not boil it to vigorously though. If the same amount of salt remains, you know it was a reaction of the H2O2 with either it's self or water, making O2.
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i'll listen to borek that the amounts are small. Probably an eith of a pint or something. THere wasn't even half a pint left in the bottle.
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My guess is that you're not reacting the salt with the hydrogen peroxide; rather, the salt is acting as a nucleation site for the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water, something that happens when you heat hydrogen peroxide anyway. The microwave helps speed things along because it creates an even superheated layer of liquid, rather than an isolated superheated layer as you get by heating on an oven. If you dump it in a garden, it's the salt that's going to kill plants, not chlorine.
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there were no plants in the garden at the time though