An Investigation

into the Effect of

Concentration on
the Rate of
Reaction

Joel Mcgregor Hinz

YEAR 10 PHYSICAL SCIENCE
Research question
What effect will a 1M, 2M and 3M concentration of hydrochloric acid have on the rate of hydrogen
released in its reaction with 3cm of magnesium over a time of 2 minutes?

Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that the lower concentration of hydrochloric acid will have a slower rate of
reaction when compared to the higher concentration when reacted with magnesium.

Rationale
Independent Variable The concentration of the hydrochloric acid
Dependent Variable The rate of reaction of the release of gas from
the reaction
Controlled Variables Magnesium length, equipment size, room
temp, amount of time data is recorded, amount
of hydrochloric acid,
Collision theory is where a chemical reaction can only occur between particles when they collide
[ CITATION Byj \l 3081 ]. They also must collide with the minimum amount of energy, called the
activation energy [ CITATION Eri \l 3081 ].

Before a reaction can happen, these events need to occur:

1. The reactant particles must first collide with each other.

2. The collisions must have energy above the activation energy.
3. The reactants must form new bonds to produce products.

The rate of reaction is the speed at which reactants are turned into products [ CITATION Byj1 \l
3081 ] and there are four main factors that affect the rate of reaction: temperature, concentration,
surface area and catalysts.

For surface area when the particle size of a fixed mass of a solid reactant becomes smaller, the total
exposed surface area becomes larger, and rate of reaction increases. [ CITATION Vee20 \l 3081 ]

A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of reaction without participating in the reaction.
[ CITATION Byj1 \l 3081 ]

With temperature if you heat a substance, the particles move faster so they collide more often
speeding up the rate of reaction. It also has the effect of increasing the energy of the particles
moving around, increasing the chances of particles with the correct activation energy to collide.
[ CITATION Jim \l 3081 ]

An example of how temperature effects the rate of reaction is shown by the Maxwell-Boltzmann
Energy Distribution Graph.
The lines show the range and probability of particles having a certain energy. The shaded area of the
graph is a representation of the activation energy needed to form new bonds. The higher
temperature curve has more area shaded in then the lower temperature curve, showing that the
higher temperature curve has better odds of getting a particle with the correct activation energy.

Concentration

When the concentration is increased there are more particles of that type to interact and collide,
increasing the No. of collisions occurring and therefore increasing the chances that a particle with
the correct activation energy will successfully bond. [ CITATION Jim20 \l 3081 ]

The concentrations effect on rate of reaction is slightly different then temperature. A higher
temperature increases the kinetic energy of the particles through heat rather than increasing the
number of particles that can interact[ CITATION Key \l 3081 ]. But concentration does not increase
the individual energy of the particle, but rather there is a higher number of particles that can be
reacted and collided with increasing the likelihood of there being a collision with the correct
activation energy. [ CITATION BBC \l 3081 ][ CITATION Ber18 \l 3081 ]

Hydrochloric Acid + Magnesium  Magnesium Chloride + Hydrogen Gas

Mg (s) + 2HCl (aq) → MgCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

This supports the hypothesis that a higher concentration HCl particles for the magnesium to react
with, increasing the number of successful collisions increasing the rate of reaction.

Methodology
Chemicals needed – 9 x 50 mL of hydrochloric acid, 9 x 3cm of magnesium.

There are 3 trials per temperature = 9 tests in total.

Trial HCl (mL)

1 50 mL at 10C
2 50 mL at room temp (around
23C)
3 50 mL at 50C
 1. The HCl will need to be at the correct temperature
2. Drop the 3cm of magnesium into the HCl and quickly put the stopper on so the H 2 does not
escape.
3. Every 10 seconds record the water level.

Modification to Original Experiment Reason for Modification

Keeping the temperature constant.
Changing the concentration of the HCl for each
trial.
The experiment now is looking at
concentration, so removing alterations in
temperature stops it from effecting the results.
To see if the differing concentrations effect the
rate of reaction.

Safety/Management of risks

Risk Identified Management Strategies

Chemicals get in eyes
Knocking over acid and shattering glass creating
a hazard
Unwanted/out of control chemical reaction
Wear safety glasses during experiment and
wash eyes out if needed.
Be careful around the experiment, sweep up
glass and ask teacher for assistance.
Call teacher for help and remove any other
chemicals that may be around the experiment.
 Run into other people while doing experiment Make sure other people are aware you are
doing your experiment.
Refer to Appendix A: Risk Assessment

Analysis (Refer to Appendix B for further data)

This graph shows the amount of gas released in the reaction. The 1M increases and plateaus at
around 70 seconds with around 30cm3 of gas released. The 2M plateaus at around 20 seconds with
80cm3. The 3M plateaus at 20 seconds at around 60cm 3.

The 2M and 3M trials plateaued 50 seconds faster than the 1M. This is due to the faster rate of
reaction with the higher concentrations because of the increased amount of HCl particles. The
amount of gas is more with the higher concentrations, the reasoning for this is uncertain as the
amount of gas should be the same each time because of the fixed amount of magnesium.

When the data plateaus is in conjunction with the disappearance of the magnesium from the HCl,
signalling that the reaction has finished.
This graph shows the rate of gas released. The 1M has the lowest rate with the highest amount
released being around 0.75/s. The 2M is in the middle with the highest amount released being
around 4.3/s. And the 3M is the highest with the highest amount released being around 5.2/s. This is
again reflective of collision theory where the collisions cause the reaction, and the higher
concentration increase the rate of reaction due to the higher number of particles.

Other groups data

Emma’s group

This groups data reflects the same patterns seen in our data, with the higher molar concentrations
plateauing earlier.
Improvements
The stopwatch has a margin of error of 0.0001 seconds, but a larger problem is human error,
because humans can’t get the timing right. Could be prevented by videoing the experiment with the
stopwatch in view, allowing for error checking.

A major outlier is that the 2M is plateauing at the same time as the 3M. This could be due to the
large time interval not allowing more nuanced results but could also be due to the running of the
experiment.

The interval of 10 seconds per data point does not record enough data points to differentiate much
between the 2M and 3M trials. If the interval was smaller (e.g. 5 seconds) there would be more data
to graph and may be able to see more of a difference between the two concentrations.

How the experiment was ran was a likely factor in the slightly wonky results. The way the
experiment was ran may have been wrong, making the data different from other groups. The setup
between trials may have changed also, adding to the inaccuracy.

Evaluation
The data reflects the hypothesis that a higher concentration of acid will cause a higher rate of
reaction. There were some errors identified in the running of the experiment, but the data along
with other groups data (which affirms the higher concentration -> faster rate of reaction) leads to
the conclusion that a higher concentration leads to a higher rate of reaction.
Appendix A
Appendix B

Data
Raw Data
Second
s   1M     2M       3M      

  T1 T2 T3 Average T1 T2 T3 Average T1 T2 T3 Average

1.66666 10.3333
0 2 2 1 7 7 14 10 3 21 5 10 12
53.3333 63.3333
10 7 7 4 6 50 60 50 3 80 60 50 3
88.3333 74.6666
20 12 15 9 12 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
30 20 21 16 19 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
40 24 26 22 24 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
27.3333 88.3333 74.6666
50 27 29 26 3 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
29.3333 88.3333 74.6666
60 29 30 29 3 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
70 30 30 30 30 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
80 30 30 30 30 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
90 30 30 30 30 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
100 30 30 30 30 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
110 30 30 30 30 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7
88.3333 74.6666
120 30 30 30 30 94 91 80 3 90 68 66 7

Processed Data
Working is shown under graphs with stars denoting the examples.
Averaged Data
Seconds 1M (mL of 3M(look at
water) 2M(look at 1M) 1M)

0 1.66666666
7 10.33333333**** 12
10 6 53.33333333 63.33333333

20 12 88.33333333 74.66666667
30 19 88.33333333 74.66666667

40 24 88.33333333 74.66666667
 50 27.3333333
3 88.33333333 74.66666667

60 29.3333333
3 88.33333333 74.66666667
70 30 88.33333333 74.66666667

80 30 88.33333333 74.66666667
90 30 88.33333333 74.66666667

100 30 88.33333333 74.66666667

110 30 88.33333333 74.66666667

120 30 88.33333333 74.66666667

***** Data was found by adding together each value from a time interval and dividing by 3.
E.g. 7+14+10/3 = 10.3333

Corrected Data
Data was corrected so the starting point was 0 for each, making graphing easier. This
alteration should not change the interpretation of the results at all, as the starting point of
the water inside the measuring cylinder should not be a factor.
Second 2M
s 1M (cm3 of (cm3 of 3M (cm3
gas) gas) of gas)
0 0 0 0
10 4.333333**** 43 51.33333
20 10.33333 78 62.66667
30 17.33333 78 62.66667
40 22.33333 78 62.66667
50 25.66667 78 62.66667
60 27.66667 78 62.66667
70 28.33333 78 62.66667
80 28.33333 78 62.66667
90 28.33333 78 62.66667
100 28.33333 78 62.66667
110 28.33333 78 62.66667
120 28.33333 78 62.66667
*** Found by subtracting the starting value from each of the data points. E.g. 6 – 1.666667
= 4.33333
Rate Data
cm3/s
Second
s 1M 2M 3M
0 0 0 0
5.13333
10 0.43333 4.3 3
1.13333
20 0.6*** 3.5 3
30 0.7 0 0
40 0.5 0 0
0.33333
50 3 0 0
60 0.2 0 0
0.06666
70 7 0 0
80 0 0 0
90 0 0 0
100 0 0 0
110 0 0 0
120 0 0 0
**** Rates were found by finding the difference between each time interval and dividing
it by 10. E.g. 10.333 – 4.333 = 6, 6/10 = 0.6

Bibliography
Bibliography
(n.d.). Retrieved from Max-Boltzwell Diagram:
https://docbrown.info/page03/3_31rates/maxboltz1.gif

BBC. (n.d.). Rates of Reaction. Retrieved from BBC:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z4n82hv/revision/1

Byju. (n.d.). Collision Theory. Retrieved from Byju: https://byjus.com/chemistry/collision-theory/

Byju. (n.d.). Rate of Reaction. Retrieved from Byju: https://byjus.com/chemistry/rate-of-

reaction/#:~:text=The%20rate%20of%20reaction%20refers%20to%20the%20speed,reaction
%20is%20completed%20in%20less%20than%20a%20second

Clark, J. (2018, October). The Effect of Temperature on Reaction Rates. Retrieved from Chemguide:
https://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/basicrates/temperature.html

Clark, J. (2020). The Effect of Concentration on the rates of Chemical Reactions. Retrieved from
Chemguide: https://www.chemguide.co.uk/14to16/rates/concentration.html
Gregersen, E. (n.d.). Activation Energy. Retrieved from Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/science/activation-energy

Key, J. A. (n.d.). Factors that Affect the Rate of Reactions. Retrieved from BC Campus:
https://opentextbc.ca/introductorychemistry/chapter/factors-that-affect-the-rate-of-
reactions-2/#:~:text=An%20increase%20in%20temperature%20typically,for%20an
%20effective%20collision%20(Figure.

Markgraf, B. (2018, May 12). How does Concentration Affect the Rate of Reaction. Retrieved from
Sciencing: https://sciencing.com/how-does-concentration-affect-the-rate-of-reaction-
13712168.html

Veerendra. (2020, December 1). How does the Surface Area Affecct the Rate of Reaction. Retrieved
from aplustopper: https://www.aplustopper.com/surface-area-affect-rate-
reaction/#:~:text=Effect%20of%20surface%20area%20on%20the%20rate%20of,area
%20becomes%20larger%2C%20the%20rate%20of%20reaction%20increases.