A Commercial Device Involving the Breathalyzer Test Reaction

• Kathleen J. Dombrink ^[1]
  1. [1] John L. Miller Great Neck North High School

     John L. Miller Great Neck North High School

     Town of North Hempstead, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 73, Nº 2 (February), 1996, págs. 135-136
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • FINAL CALL consists of a 10-cm glass tube packed with three bands of silica gel crystals coated with a dilute acidic solution of potassium dichromate to produce a yellow color. A test subject fills a balloon (included with the device) with breath; the filled balloon is attached to the end of the glass tube to allow the sampled breath to flow through the tube for 60 seconds. When ethyl alcohol vapor makes contact with the yellow-coated crystals, the color changes from yellow to green. The number of bands which change color and the intensity of the color indicate the relative amount of alcohol in the breath. To simulate the use of a FINAL CALL device, a few drops of ethyl alcohol are carefully placed in the end of the tube, followed by blowing through the tube.