Applications of Redox Reactions The Breathalyzer Robert Borkenstein, a captain with the Indiana State Police and...
Applications of Redox Reactions The Breathalyzer Robert Borkenstein, a captain with the Indiana State Police and later a professor at Indiana University at Bloomington, was the first to create a device that could measure a subject's blood alcohol level based on a breath sample. In 1954, Borkenstein invented his breathalyzer that used chemical oxidation and photometry to determine the alcohol concentration based on the unbalanced redox equation below CHIsO(g) + Cr:O,2(aq) → CO2 (g) + Cr" (aq) Balance the equation in acidic conditions.