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ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

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Abstract Volume 15 (2010) pp 215-217

Microscale Determination of Oxygen in Air by Reaction with Nitric Oxide

Metodija Najdoski*^,† and Jorge G. Ibanez^‡

^†Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Sts. Cyril and Methodius University, POB 162, Arhimedova 5, 1000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, metonajd@iunona.pmf.ukim.edu.mk, ^‡Centro Mexicano de Quimica Verde y Microescala, Depto. de Ing. y Ciencias Quimicas, Universidad Iberoamericana, Prol. Reforma 880, 01219 Mexico, DF
Received September 4, 2009. December 26, 2009

Published: 9 June 2010

Abstract. The composition of the air we breathe is fundamental for the preservation of human life. Since the time when it was determined for the first time by the British chemist Henry Cavendish, it has been a subject for frequent quantitative analysis. In this paper we present an experiment to determine the oxygen content in air. It can be performed in a normal laboratory setting and is based on the reaction between nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen. Nitric oxide is generated by the reaction between NaNO₂ and FeSO₄ in HCl in a Beral pipet. The solution of NaNO₂ and the air sample are introduced in the pipet bulb with syringes. This is an easy, ecological, low cost, fast, highly educational, and safe experiment performed with a simple chemistry kit.

Key Words: Chemistry and History; biography; history of science; pharmaceutical chemistry; psychiatry; psychopharmacology; dementia; alzheimer’s disease; biochemistry; memory; medical research; clinical research; microscopy; histology

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: metonajd@iunona.pmf.ukim.edu.mk)

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