• Question: why do you use carbon between liquid and gas?

    Asked by osborne to James on 10 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: James Jennings

      James Jennings answered on 10 Jun 2011:

      I use carbon dioxide between liquid and gas, because it is a good alternative to the more nasty substances sometimes used in chemistry.

      Many chemicals are toxic, flammable or just environmentally polluting! In addition, many chemicals need to be made from sources that are running out- for example fossil fuels. As a chemist it is important to find chemicals that are readily available and won’t run out- “renewables”. Carbon Dioxide is one of these- its all over the place as you may know!

      To answer why I use it between its liquid and gas forms. When we do this, it has properties similar to both forms- so things diffuse quickly through it (think about bad smells diffusing through the air in a room!), and also we are able to dissolve things in it (like salt in water).

      We can also dissolve some special molecules. This helps me make my plastics, which would not be possible by using other chemicals!

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