Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogo bomb here with a classic podcast
Speaker 1: episode for you. This one turns to chemistry and history
Speaker 1: to answer and everyday question. Why are hydrogen peroxide bottles opaque?
Speaker 1: Brown of all colors? Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogo bomb here.
Speaker 1: What do you get when you combine two molecules of
Speaker 1: hydrogen and two molecules of oxygen? Well, you get H
Speaker 1: two O two. More commonly known as hydrogen peroxide. Used
Speaker 1: in all kinds of industries from food processing to papermaking,
Speaker 1: two textiles to electronics, peroxide is a great disaffecting and
Speaker 1: bleaching agent. It's clear and colorless, and when poured over
Speaker 1: an open wound, peroxide will kill many types of microorganisms.
Speaker 1: It's also an extremely stable compound when properly stored, which
Speaker 1: is why when you buy hydrogen peroxide it usually comes
Speaker 1: in a brown plastic bottle. Here's why. Many semical compounds
Speaker 1: break down over time, and hydrogen peroxide is no exception.
Speaker 1: Although it is extremely stable, the solution can start to
Speaker 1: decompose when it comes in contact with light and heat.
Speaker 1: The brown bottle in your medicine cabinet is a bulwark
Speaker 1: against those two catalysts. Light cannot penetrate the tint of
Speaker 1: the brown bottle, preventing oxidation, which you want to prevent
Speaker 1: because it can result in an increase in temperature. As
Speaker 1: peroxide breaks down, it gets hotter. As a result, the
Speaker 1: compounds decomposition rate accelerates. In fact, for every ten degree
Speaker 1: fahrenheit rise in temperature, the decomposition rate nearly doubles, meaning
Speaker 1: that around seventy two degrees fahrenheit that's about twenty two celsius,
Speaker 1: it decomposes at a rate of one percent per year.
Speaker 1: But if it got up to one fifty one degrees
Speaker 1: fahrenheit that's about sixty six celsius, it would be decomposing
Speaker 1: at a rate of one percent per week. By the
Speaker 1: time it hit the boiling point of water, it would
Speaker 1: be going at nearly two percent per day. Moreover, some
Speaker 1: sort of contaminants such as dust, silver, lead, or another metal,
Speaker 1: gets into the solution, it can spark a fire. Although
Speaker 1: the solution itself is not explosive, those in the industry
Speaker 1: must handle hydrogen peroxide with care. If the solution is
Speaker 1: in a closed system, such as a storage tank and
Speaker 1: it starts to break down, pressure can build up, causing
Speaker 1: the tank or a pipe or line to rupture. The
Speaker 1: good news is that the bottle of peroxide in your
Speaker 1: medicine cabinet only contains about a three solution, far less
Speaker 1: than that the food industry uses. For example. You may
Speaker 1: also notice the peroxide never comes in a clear glass container.
Speaker 1: That's because glass bottles may contain dissolved alkali metal ions
Speaker 1: that can react with the solution. Today's episode is based
Speaker 1: on the article why does hydrogen peroxide come in a
Speaker 1: brown bottle? On how supworks dot com written by John Parentano.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership
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Speaker 1: Tyler Crying and Ramsey. Out four more podcasts from my
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