Did you know that about chemistry... Hydrogen peroxide

I enjoyed making last week's post about chemistry. It was fun and I would like to repeat it because it also makes me go back a little to my childhood years. Also soon I will have to be helping my children. Well soon in a few years that are still small. Although some of these things without technicalities can already be explained to you.
If the other day it was H2O water, today I am going to look at Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2, also known as hydrogen peroxide.

• Why does foam appear when we apply hydrogen peroxide?
  Hydrogen Peroxide is a very oxidizing substance that often generates gas. Although the hydrogen peroxide that we buy at the pharmacy is a solution that should act more slowly, that does not happen when we apply it to a wound for a reason. The blood has an enzyme called catalase that generates a rapid reaction in contact with Hydrogen Peroxide that produces bubbles and the characteristic stinging that we feel. This reaction is also what allows the disinfection of the wound.
• How does the bombardier beetle "Brachinus crepitans" use Hydrogen Peroxide to save its life?
  We humans have not invented chemical warfare, although as always we do it in a big way.
  The bombardier beetle has a fantastic ability that often saves its life. It has substances called quinones that it stores in a deposit. On the other hand, instead of eliminating the Hydrogen Peroxide that it generates naturally like other animals, it also stores it in another tank.
  When it feels threatened, it opens its deposits, letting out the substances that are mixed in another chamber in its sphincters that is coated with catalase and that causes high-pressure gases to be generated immediately. And so it can send a burst of water shots at high pressure and almost 100ºC in addition to other unpleasant substances.

You see that chemical reactions are really interesting and help us a lot to know why things happen. I hope you found these explanations interesting.

Pixabay Image

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