Why does the hydrogen which is passing continuously through the tube have to be burnt when it is passing out from the tube? Why can it not be allowed to just escape simply?
Asked
Active
Viewed 4,899 times
2
-
2You don't want it to accumulate in your room and then suddenly catch fire. Gas explosions can be pretty powerful, to the point of demolishing whole buildings. – Ivan Neretin Sep 01 '16 at 06:28
-
https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/43371/why-doesnt-hydrogen-displace-metals-from-their-oxides/43377#43377 – Nilay Ghosh Apr 24 '17 at 08:15
1 Answers
3
Burning the hydrogen gas at the exit stream of the copper oxide reduction tube is simply one way to assure that it does not accumulate to explosive levels in the lab. Although hydrogen gas is not toxic, it is flammable in air at concentrations as low as $\pu{4\%}$. As the combustion product of hydrogen and oxygen is mainly water vapor, this technique makes for a simple, safe means for disposing of the excess hydrogen from the copper oxide reduction process.
airhuff
- 17,481
- 12
- 56
- 173