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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007  > March  >
In the Laboratory
An Inexpensive Kinetic Study: The Reaction of FD&C Red #3 (Erythrosin B) with Hypochlorite
Maher M. Henary and Arlene A. Russell
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90049-1569
Cover
March 2007
Vol. 84 No. 3
p. 480

Abstract
Kinetics constitutes a core topic in both the lecture and laboratory components of lower- level chemistry courses. While textbook examples can ignore issues of time, temperature and safety, the laboratory can not. Reactions must occur slowly enough to be detected by students, occur rapidly enough for data collection in the few hours assigned to a laboratory period, be safe enough to be handled by students, and be simple enough to provide easily interpreted data. Few reactions meet these restrictions. We report here a new, inexpensive (~5 cents/student), environmentally benign system involving the reaction of FD&C Red #3 and hypochlorite. Students use a desktop visible spectrophotometer to quantitatively follow the rate of disappearance of the colored reagent under a variety of initial conditions. The first-order reaction in both dye and bleach yields simple data that students can easily process and graph using spreadsheet software to obtain the rate constant and the rate law.
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Instructions for the students and notes for the instructor are available.
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Citation
Henary, Maher M.; Russell, Arlene A. J. Chem. Educ. 2007 84 480.
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Keywords
Dyes / Pigments; First-Year Undergraduate / General; Hands-On Learning / Manipulatives; Kinetics; Laboratory Instruction; Organic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Rate Law; Second-Year Undergraduate; UV-Vis Spectroscopy
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
2/1/2007
2/22/2007
 Caution! 
Experiments, laboratory exercises, lecture demonstrations, and other descriptions of the use of chemicals, apparatus, instruments, computers, and computer interfaces are presented in the Journal of Chemical Education as illustrative of new or improved ideas or concepts in chemistry instruction and are directed at qualified teachers. Although every effort is made to assure and encourage safe practices and safe use of chemicals, the Journal of Chemical Education cannot assume responsibility for uses made of its published materials. Many chemicals are hazardous. Precautions for the safe use of hazardous chemicals and directions for their proper disposal are described in the Material Safety Data Sheets and on the labels. We strongly urge all those planning to use materials from our pages to make choices and to develop procedures for laboratory and classroom safety in accordance with local needs and situations.
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