Terry Suman, Age 11., Of Peoria, I11., for his question:

What is a catalyst?

Catalysts do valuable work in the world of industry  and when their work is done, they can be used over and over again. The manufacturers of cement, oxygen and gasoline depend on chemical catalysts to do their jobs better and cheaper. We know of thousands of catalysts, and researchers are forever trying to find still more of these useful chemicals.

Chemical compounds are made of molecules, and each molecule is a unit of assorted atoms. It takes a chemical reaction to tie up the bundle of atoms to form a molecule, and it takes a different chemical reaction to break molecules apart again into separate atoms. The manufacturers of gasoline, rubber, cement and countless other industrial products depend upon chemical reactions of this kind.

A catalyst affects a chemical reaction without permanently changing itself. It is a sort of boss chemical which gives the orders to speed up or slow down a chemical action. The speeder uppers are called accelerator catalysts. A catalyst of this sort is used in one recipe for the preparation of oxygen.

The oxygen gas is taken from a white solid called potassium chlorate. Each molecule is a unit of one atom of potassium, one of chlorine and three of oaygen. The manufacturer wants t0 release those three atoms of oxygen from these countless mo1eculeb. The molecules will break apart under terrific heat and pressure. But when a little manganese dioxide is added to the brew, the job is done faster and with less heat and pressure.

The manganese dioxide is a catalyst agent. It changes the chemical action; but when the job is done, the catalyst has not changed itself. Aluminum chloride or some other catalyst is used in the process of separating  gasoline from oily petroleum.

Manufacturers of cement often use a different type of catalyst to slov down the drying speed of the concrete. Such a chemical is called an inhibitor catalyst. Gypsum may be used to slow the..drying process to prevent cracks forming in the concrete. Some processes use a contact catalyst. Microscopic fragments of nickel may be placed in contact with the ingredients in the process of making solid fats from vegetable oils. Later, the catalyst  quite unchanged  is taken from the product.

Many chemical reactions arc almost impossible without the presence of just the right catalyst. Others are done faster and cheaper when a catalyst chemical is present. Rubber, gasoline and countless other products are much cheaper because catalysts are used. Research scientists, of course, are always trying to find more useful catalysts to improve our products.