Jump to content

Blackish-Green solution


Recommended Posts

I was bored and feeling stupid tonight, so I dropped a 9v battery in salt water, hoping to make NaOH. It seemed to work at first, as bubbles of hydrogen were rapidly being formed. But then, I checked back on it a few minutes later, and something blackish was drifting around. Bubbles were still forming (at the anode only, for some reason), so I decanted the solution into a new container. The solution has blackish particles drifting around in a dark green solution. My guess is that the manganese dioxide and potassium hydoxide reacted in solution to make the green solution of potassium manganate, and extra manganese dioxide would explain the black particles. Is this logical, and if not, why? What was the solution? And how did it act the way it did (did the sodium hydroxide eat through the battery?) Now, I know this was in hindsight a dumb experiment, but I'm curious as to what the result was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.