How Is Oxygen Prepared In The Laboratory?

The method of heating red mercuric oxide to obtain oxygen is not practical because mercuric oxide is expensive, and the amount of oxygen given off is too small. Also, the mercuric oxide has to be heated to a very light temperature before oxygen is liberated.

When compounds containing oxygen, e.g. potassium chlorate, potassium permanganate, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate, are heated, oxygen is given off. The usual method of preparing oxygen in the laboratory is to heat potassium chlorate, a compound which contains a large amount of oxygen. When some white crystals of potassium chlorate are heated strongly in a hard glass tube, the crystals melt and a gas is given off. When a glowing wooden splinter bursts into the test tube, showing the gas is oxygen. The white residue left behind in the test tube is potassium chloride. Oxygen is a very active element because it readily combines with most other elements to form oxides. This chemical process is called oxidation. Burning, rusting and respiration are everyday examples of oxidation. Oxygen does not burn, but it supports combustion.

Mix a little amount of potassium chlorate in the company of and the same amount of manganese dioxide and put the combination in a tough experiment cylinder. Close up the entrance of the cylinder by a one-hole rubber cork in which is fixed a lengthy, thin pipe, and fasten the experiment cylinder to an iron hold up. Fill the channel by water awaiting the ledge is just enclosed and permit the end of the release pipe to rest just under the hole in the ledge.

Fill a medium-sized container with water, cover up it with a goblet cover, turn upside down the container in the channel, and then take away the goblet cover. Heat the experiment cylinder incredibly softly, and when gas bubbles out of the cylinder, slip the container over the opening in the ledge, so that the cylinder runs into the container. The gas will might out the water and will in conclusion fill the container. When all the water has been enforced out, slip the goblet cover beneath the entrance of the container and take away the container from the channel. The gas in the container is oxygen.

All over the place in a big city or in a little town, burn is seen, representing the attendance of fire; as a result there have to exist a huge provide of oxygen to remain all the fires alive. The supply of oxygen required for the fires of the humankind comes mostly from the air.