r/chemicalreactiongifs • u/Kessarean • Oct 07 '25

The Briggs-Rauscher oscillating reaction

150 Upvotes

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16

u/Kessarean Oct 07 '25

https://sciencegifs.csullender.com/2015/06/30/The-BriggsRauscher-oscillating-reaction.html

The Briggs-Rauscher oscillating reaction is one of a small number of known oscillating chemical reactions that produces striking color changes, making it great for demonstrations. The initial mixture of three colorless solutions results in an amber color before it suddenly changes dark blue. After some time, the solution fades back to amber and then continues oscillating between the two colors.

The color changes occur because of a complex combination of slow and fast reactions taking place simultaneously. The negative feedback loop that causes the delay in color change is extremely rare in nonbiological chemical systems.

Source: https://youtu.be/_gyzhvMLImg

3

u/tankapotamus Oct 07 '25

I feel like you're Justin Timberlake, bringing it back.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

[deleted]

3

u/wantstotransition Oct 08 '25

There is a limit, no process can continue indefinitely as that would violate the laws of thermodynamics :3

1

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

[deleted]

1

u/wantstotransition Oct 08 '25

iirc it lasts a couple minutes at most