A catalyst is a chemical that is introduced to other chemicals specifically to speed up a slow moving
reaction. In this case the potassium iodide was the catalysts. When you plopped it into the hydrogen
peroxide the whole decomposition process ratched it up a notch and not only was water and oxygen in
abundance but some of the water was converted to steam. The steam, being a hot, expanding gas is trapped
in the liquid detergent and shoved out of the bottle as a foam by the pressure inside the bottle.
The reaction also created a fair amount of heat which reacted with the “mers” (groups or clusters
of atoms, collectively known as polymers) in the plastic bottle. Things usually expand when they are
heated, however, in this case, the heat causes the long bonds of the plastic to collapse. The end produce
is a hot, wrinkly pop bottle.
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