Huff and puff apparatus



The huff and puff apparatus is used in school biology labs to demonstrate that carbon dioxide is a product of respiration. A pupil breathes in and out of the middle tube. The glass tubing is arranged in such a way that one flask bubbles as the pupils breathes in, the other as the pupil breathes out. A suitable carbon dioxide indicator, such as limewater or bicarbonate indicator shows the increased presence of carbon dioxide in the outgoing breath. This turns the bicarbonate into milky white substance.