An investigation into the phenomena of oscillating chemical reactions, famously observed and documented by Belousov in the 1950's and Zhabotinsky in the 1960's, gives insight into non-linear dynamics in the field of chemistry. Chemical oscillations result from coupled reactions that cause changes in concentrations of key reagents through autocatalytic processes. Sample reactions, such as the reduction/oxidation of ferrous sulfate (dye) by ionic bromide and bromate, are investigated both mathematically and experimentally. Bulk oscillations in the color of sample solutions are observed, as well as non-kinetic chemical wave behaviour. Some basic computational modeling is attempted. Applications to bio-chemistry are briefly investigated, and some gaps in the current understanding of the phenomena in biological systems discovered. Finally, a short summary of the investigation, including observations and research, and some cool possibilities for future study, are presented.
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