Oscillating Reactions

Periodic color changes in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction and other chemical clocks — watch the concentrations oscillate

Model

About

The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction oscillates between a blue (reduced) and orange (oxidized) state.

Oregonator (Field-Körös-Noyes, 1972):
dX/dt = k₁Y − k₂X + k₃X(1−X)
dY/dt = (f·Z − Y)/ε
dZ/dt = k₄X − k₅Z

The "color" column shows how Ce³⁺ (colorless) vs Ce⁴⁺ (yellow) would look. Real BZ reactions can oscillate for hours.

Observables

Measuring period...