Demonstration of Chemical Equilibrium through Regeneration of Color in Blue Bottle Experiment

Concept of equilibrium is very difficult to understand for under graduate students. This experiment has a good visual impact of demonstration of equilibrium and would be one way of stimulating awareness in chemistry. An alkaline solution of arabinose and methylene green in aqueous medium can be used to explain equilibrium visually through reaction of dissolved oxygen which was observed in “BLUE BOTTLE EXPERIMENT” that showed the shift of equilibrium by regeneration of color during shaking and upon standing equilibrium shift in the forward direction and color loss was observed. Shaking the solution raises the concentration of oxygen in the mixture and oxidizes the methylene green back to its blue form. When the dissolved oxygen has been consumed, the methylene green is slowly reduced back to its colorless form by the remaining arabinose and the cycle can be repeated many times by further shaking. The experiment was repeated with various concentrations of dye indicator, arabinose and sodium hydroxide concentration. It was observed that regeneration of color and colorloss is the best visual example of explanation of equilibrium.