[constant thinker]

Is it possible to separate the Potassium and Iodine from Potassium Iodide pills used to block radiation. I found some online and thought that this would be a cool expirement to try. I don't know what else is in the pills but I would imagine that they are made with salt.

If it's possible to extract the Iodine and Potassium from these pills, how do I do this? Or atleast get the KI out of the pill then break it down.

P.S. I fixed seperate to separate. I'm also just going to get the KI at the drug store. I saw them at Target actually.

[mike]

separation NOT seperation

[two39plutonium]

Dissolve them up and precipitate the iodine with silver nitrate.    Make sure it is iodine though and not iodate, either one will do for saturating your thyroid with stable iodine.  If it is iodate the solubility product is a bit higher than for iodine, and it may be more appropriate to precipitate the lead salt of iodate.  Also, the iodine doesn't "block" radiation, it just gives your body enough iodine that it doesn't need to absorb anymore, which in the case of a nuclear accident would be radioactive and would increase your risk of thyroid cancer.

[jdurg]

Trying to get the potassium metal out of potassium iodide would frankly be a futile effort.  You would need to make the KI molten and then electrolyze the molten salt in a completey inert atmosphere while also making absolutely sure the potassium and iodine aren't anywhere near each other.  

Adding the silver nitrate to the potassium iodide would result in the formation of potassium nitrate and silver iodide which would preciptate out of solution.  Getting the iodine out could be done by adding chlorine water or bromine water to the KI solution, but then the iodine may dissolve in solution due to the presence of the I- ion which would go on to form I3(-).  

Basically, it's not worth the effort, or money, to try and get potassium and/or iodine out of KI pills.

[constant thinker]

I found a procedure to separate the KI. Can anyone tell me if this is yielding elemenal iodine or an iodine containing compound?

It goes like this:
Mix 2g of KI, 2g Manganese Dioxide, and 4g of Sodium Bisulfate.
Heat gently.
Catch the purple fumes coming out with a cold glass jar.
Scrape off cooled Iodine crystals.

I have a good feeling this isn't pure Iodine though.

Another method is to bubble Chlorine gas through a solution of KI in water. This gives you Iodic acid, which is HIO3 though. I read that this is a very strong acid.

P.S. This topic may need to be moved to Citizen Chemist Board but that's up to you admin's.

[AWK]

Write down a balanced redox reaction

[Alberto_Kravina]

I have a good feeling this isn't pure Iodine though.

You can be kind of sure that it is pretty pure. p.a. iodine is prepared by catching iodine fumes and "scraping" off the resumlimed iodine.

[constant thinker]

So this is actually a suitable method for preparing elemental iodine.

Is either Sodium Bisulfate or Manganese Dioxide commonly found in any household product(s)?

If so this will save a lot of time and probably money.

[Alberto_Kravina]

Is either Sodium Bisulfate or Manganese Dioxide commonly found in any household product(s)?

You can find MnO₂ or MnO(OH)₂ (H₂MnO₃) in batteries, I can't think of any product which contains sodium bisulfate, though.