Visible Reactive Intermediate
Description: A mixture of tartrate ion and hydrogen peroxide does not react, even at 70°C. Adding cobalt as a catalyst causes the reaction to proceed; the color of the mixture changes from pink to green, accompanied by considerable foam.
Source: Fun with Chemistry; A Guidebook of K-12 Activities Institute for Chemical Education Ed by M. and J. Sarquis
Year: 1993 Vol: 2 Page: 253
Keywords: Kinetics, Cobalt, Tartrate, Hydrogen peroxide, Catalyst
Ratings: 
Hazard: Medium
- Acute toxicity hazard
- Skin corrosion hazard
- Serious eye damage
- Inhalation hazard
- Electric shock hazard
- Burn hazard
- Scald hazard
- Aquatic toxicity
- Carcinogenicity hazard
- Reproductive toxicity hazard
- Dermal exposure hazard
- Specific organ toxicity – respiratory system
Effectiveness: Excellent
- Good connection from demo to course material
- Obvious contrast between behavior of systems
- Spectacular or counter intuitive effects are seen
- Time to results is low
- High reliability
Difficulty: Medium
- Some concerted manipulations
- Reactions of demos at non-standard conditions
- Reactions contain potential for the creation of hazardous conditions
Safety Precautions:
- Eye protection required
- Gloves required
- Thermal gloves required
- Use of UL approved three-prong plug and outlet
- Absorbent materials on hand
- Containment required
- Perform in a well-ventilated area
- Perform on a chemically resistant surface
- Avoid exposure to gases, mists or dusts
- Prevent release of reagents to the environment
Class: Catalysis, Kinetics
Division: General
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