CHEMISTRY

INVESTIGATORY Project

THE CHEMICAL
OSCILLATOR:
IODINE CLOCK
Name: NITISH G SAJI
Class: XII-A
Roll no: 15
Year: 2019-20
 St. Paul’s School C 3, SDA, New Delhi

Certificate

This is to certify that NITISH G SAJI, Board Roll

No:________________ of class XII-A has successfully
completed the investigatory project on topic: “THE
CHEMICAL OSCILLATOR: IODINE CLOCK ” under the
guidance of MRS NISHA CHAUBEY during the year 2019 -20
in the partial fulfillment of the Chemistry practical examination
conducted by CBSE.

NISHA CHAUBEY
PGT CHEMISTRY

1
 Index
S.no Title Page
no.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2
1

INTRODUCTION 3
2

4
3 REACTION MECHANISM
5
4

VARIATIONS IN IODINE 6
5
CLOCKS
COMPONENTS OF A IODINE 7
6
CLOCK
OPERATION OF A TESLA 8
7
COIL
BIBLIOGRAPHY 9
8

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is a great pleasure and privilege to express my

profound sense of gratitude to our esteemed guide
and Chemistry Teacher Mrs. Nisha Chaubey, who
helped & coordinated in the completion of this
project. I also sincerely thank to the lab assistant for
her support during the progress of my project.

I express my thanks to all my friends and my family

for their timely, suggestions and encouragements.

3
 INTRODUCTION
The iodine clock reaction is a classical chemical clock
demonstration experiment to display chemical
kinetics in action; it was discovered by Hans Heinrich
Landolt in 1886.
The “clock reaction” is a reaction famous for its
dramatic colorless-to-blue color change, and is often
used in chemistry courses to explore the rate at which
reactions take place. The color change occurs when I2
reacts with starch to form a dark blue iodine/starch
complex. The ability to record the time at which the blue
complex appears allows the rate of reaction to be
determined accurately with a stopwatch. In this
experiment, the rate law for a reaction is determined
using the method of initial rates. The effect of
concentration on the rate of this reaction is determined
by measuring the initial reaction rate at several reactant
concentrations. You will also examine the effect of a
catalyst on the reaction rate. Lastly, you will investigate
the effect of temperature on the rate of this reaction,
which will allow you to determine the activation energy.

4
 REACTION MECHANISM
Hydrogen peroxide variation[edit]
This reaction starts from a solution of hydrogen
peroxide with sulfuric acid. To this is added a solution
containing potassium iodide, sodium thiosulfate, and starch. There
are two reactions occurring in the solution.
In the first, slow reaction, triiodide is produced:
H2O2 + 3I− + 2H+ → I3− + 2H2O
In the second, fast reaction, triiodide is reconverted to 3 iodide ions
by the thiosulfate:
2S2O32− + I3− → S4O62− + 3I−
After some time the solution always changes color to a very dark
blue, almost black.
When the solutions are mixed, the second reaction causes
the triiodide ion to be consumed much faster than it is generated,
and only a small amount of triiodide is present in the dynamic
equilibrium. Once the thiosulfate ion has been exhausted, this
reaction stops and the blue colour caused by the triiodide – starch
complex appears.
Anything that accelerates the first reaction will shorten the time until
the solution changes color. Decreasing the pH (increasing
H+ concentration), or increasing the concentration of iodide or
hydrogen peroxide will shorten the time. Adding more thiosulfate will
have the opposite effect; it will take longer for the blue colour to
appear.

5
6
VARIATIONS IN IODINE CLOCKS
Iodate variation[edit]
An alternative protocol uses a solution of iodate ion (for instance
potassium iodate) to which an acidified solution (again with sulfuric
acid) of sodium bisulfite is added.[2]
In this protocol, iodide ion is generated by the following slow
reaction between the iodate and bisulfite:
IO3− + 3 HSO3− → I− + 3 HSO4−
This first step is the rate determining step. Next, the iodate in
excess will oxidize the iodide generated above to form iodine:
IO3− + 5 I− + 6 H+ → 3 I2 + 3 H2O
However, the iodine is reduced immediately back to iodide by the
bisulfite:
I2 + HSO3− + H2O → 2 I− + HSO4− + 2 H+
When the bisulfite is fully consumed, the iodine will survive (i.e., no
reduction by the bisulfite) to form the dark blue complex with starch.

Persulfate variation[edit]
This clock reaction uses sodium, potassium or ammonium
persulfate to oxidize iodide ions to iodine. Sodium thiosulfate is
used to reduce iodine back to iodide before the iodine can complex
with the starch to form the characteristic blue-black color.
Iodine is generated:
2 I− + S2O82− → I2 + 2 SO42−
And is then removed:
I2 + 2 S2O32− → 2 I− + S4O62−
Once all the thiosulfate is consumed the iodine may form a complex
with the starch. Potassium persulfate is less soluble (cfr. Salters
website) while ammonium persulfate has a higher solubility and is

7
used instead in the reaction described in examples from Oxford
University.[3]

Chlorate variation[edit]
An experimental iodine clock sequence has also been established
for a system consisting of iodine potassium-iodide, sodium
chlorate and perchloric acid that takes place through the following
reactions.[4]
Triiodide is present in equilibrium with iodide anion and
molecular iodine:
I 3 − ⇄ I − + I2
Chlorate ion oxidizes iodide ion to hypoiodous acid and chlorous
acid in the slow and rate-determining step:
ClO3− + I− + 2 H+ → HOI + HClO2
Chlorate consumption is accelerated by reaction of hypoiodous acid
to iodous acid and more chlorous acid:
ClO3− + HOI + H+ → HIO2 + HClO2
More autocatalysis when newly generated iodous acid also converts
chlorate in the fastest reaction step:
ClO3− + HIO2 → IO3− + HClO2
In this clock the induction period is the time it takes
for autocatalytic process to start after which the concentration of
free iodine falls rapidly as observed by UV/VIS spectroscopy.

8
 HISTORY OF THE IODINE CLOCK
TYPES OF IODINE CLOCKS
Components of a IODINE
CLOCK
