Hydrogen Peroxide and Bleach = Oxygen

Hydrogen Peroxide is toxic and used as disinfectant. Bleach is used for laundry and is
corrosive. Bleach also contains sodium hypochlorite. In order for the reaction to work, sodium
hypochlorite must be inside the bleach since hydrogen peroxide must mix with chlorine to make
oxygen. The reaction happens very quickly.

Purpose: To try and produce an oxygen fueled rocket or at least an oxygen fueled rocket motor.

Hypothesis: The hydrogen peroxide and the bleach will react to produce oxygen, which will
produce a bigger flame. I was expecting solid salt to form and a noticeable amount of water to
form.

Materials:

Safety equipment
GoPro
Face Mask
Gloves

Plastic bottle
Match and red phosphorus
Hydrogen Peroxide (3%)
Bleach (7%)

Procedure:
1) Get everything ready.
2) Pour 1 ounce (or an equal amount of bleach - as long as it doesn’t exceed the bottle’s
size) of hydrogen peroxide in the bottle.
3) Strike the match.
4) Pour 1 ounce of bleach in the bottle.
5) Hold the match over the solution.
6) Clean up.

Observations:
The bleach and the hydrogen peroxide made a fizzing sound, producing bubbles which quickly
disappeared.
No solid salt was found.
No measurements were made but it seems that a small amount of water was produced.
The match extinguished when the bottle was pressed to release oxygen.

Conclusion: The oxygen produced was made too quick and extinguished the flame instead of
increasing it. An oxygen fueled rocket shouldn’t be possible then. I learned that the hydrogen
peroxide should be poured in first so that way the match can be lit up quicker and to avoid a fire
hazard.

Next time I’ll try melted copper wire and bleach in a bottle.