saftey question

[milewsal]

i am doing the project "using the power of purple to evaluate fats in cooking oils", and in the procedure it tells me to heat water on the stove, then turn the stove down to low and try to maintain that temp. then when the actual experimentation begins it tells me to turn the stove off completely (because of flammable iodine). i have an electric stove so i was wondering that since i don't have an open flame if i should keep the stove on or what, why heat the stove in the first place if the temp is going to decrees during experiment an d create another variable?

[deleted-71495]

Hi milewsal,

while your argumentation makes sense to me, I strongly suggest you stick to the instructions nevertheless. Here's why: iodine is not flammable, BUT it is a strong oxidant. That means it can react quickly with other materials, and those reactions can be exothermic (i.e. produces heat, which always means risk of scalding, burning, fire..). Such reaction could be facilitated by external heat, like from your hotplate. When you operate with iodine, some part of it will always evaporate so do expect to have iodine not only inside but around the pot.

The risk of something bad happening is probably quite low, but it is not zero. Better to be safe than sorry.

[milewsal]

ok thank you very much

[deleted-345986]

does boiling on a gas stove go faster than boiling on an electric stove

[deleted-2131]

Hi RJF2004,

Is your question related to a K-12 science fair project? If so, what is the hypothesis you are trying to test? If not, then a different set of online forums will be better able to help you. These forums are specifically for students, parents, and teachers working on K-12 science projects.