Add hydrogen peroxide to manganese dioxide

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The chemical experiment when you combine hydrogen peroxide and manganese dioxide is very interesting because you can see that there is a violent reaction, but the manganese dioxide remains unchanged.

Reaction equation of the experiment manganese dioxide in hydrogen peroxide
Reaction equation of the experiment manganese dioxide in hydrogen peroxide

What you need:

  • Beaker 50-100 ml
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Brownstone
  • Wood chip

This is what happens when you bring hydrogen peroxide and manganese dioxide together

  1. Pour approx. 1 cm of hydrogen peroxide.
  2. Put a small piece of brownstone in the liquid.
  3. You will immediately see a violent reaction that creates bubbles.
  4. Light a piece of wood some distance away. And blow out the flame. The chip should only glow.
  5. Hold the chip in the beaker. You can see this flare up. This is an indication that the vesicles you saw are oxygen.
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Explanation of the attempt

  • Brownstone is MnO2 - manganese oxide. However, the oxygen cannot have dissolved from this compound if you have seen that the brownstone has not changed.
  • Hydrogen peroxide H2O2 is always unstable and decomposes, that is known. Usually the process is slow.
  • From a chemical point of view, it is a so-called redox reaction in which a reduction first takes place: H2O2 + 2 e- -> 2 OH-. As a reminder: a chemical reaction in which electrons are absorbed is called reduction.
  • At the same time, there is also an oxidation H2O2 -> O2 + 2 H.+ + 2 e-. You remember, a chemical reaction in which electrons are given off is called oxidation.
  • You can use both processes together as a redox reaction: H2O2 + H2O2 -> 2 OH- + 2 H.+ + O2 represent.
  • The well-known decomposition equation of hydrogen peroxide 2 H2O2 -> 2 H.2O + O2 also shows that the oxygen comes from the hydrogen peroxide alone, the manganese dioxide is not affected.

If you wanted to include the brownstone in the formula, you would have to do it as follows. 2 H2O2 + MnO2 -> 2 H.2O + O2 + MnO2. This is a very unusual way of writing because the brownstone has nothing to do with the reaction processes. So it is better if you write "Catalyst: Brownstone" over the arrow, because that is exactly what it is Braunstein in the context, it accelerates a reaction without itself being part of the reproof will.

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