Decomposition of hydrogen peroxideDuring the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide,if managanese IV oxide is used as a catalyst, how do we know if...

There are a number of ways you could experimentally prove
that the catalyst does not take part in the chemical
reaction.

!.  Very carefully weigh the catalyst that you
are adding to the decomposition reaction at the beginning and at the end.  The weight
should not change unless the MnO2 is decomposing also.

2.
Check for a change in appearance of the catalyst. If the catalyst decomposes, you should
get some manganese metal separating out which would have a different appearance than the
MnO2.

3. Carefully measure the amount of peroxide that you
are adding to decompose and the amount of oxygen that is released. If you get more than
the theoretical amount of O2, then some of the catalyst would have to have decomposed
also.