CHEM HELP!...The brown liquid results from the presence of....?

Question

free iodine produced from the extreme oxidizing ability of the 30% hydrogen peroxide.

can someone please explain to me what "oxidizing ability" and "free iodine" means in this statement?!?!

its refering to the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and sodium iodide..

oh and it the "iodine" in the statement the same as iodide??

thank you so much in advance!!!

Answer 1

A plausible reaction would be H2O2 + 2NaI -> I2 + 2NaOH.  The iodide atoms have shed one electron each (a reduction), and the oxygen atoms (between them) have gained one each (an oxidation).

Answer 2

Sodium iodide acts as a catalyst to decompose hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide is a strong "oxidizing agent" , causing the sodium iodide to lose an electron.

When iodine is combined with another element, like sodium,

it is called "iodide". When the element iodine is by itself, it is just called  "free iodine" (not combined to another element).

The brown liquid is water mixed with "free iodine".

Here's the experiment in detail:

http://www.flinnsci.com/Documents/demoPD...

By the way,you probably would have gotten better responses for this question in YA "chemistry" instead of the botany section.