Acid (HCL) with metal (Mg)

reaction
DIFFERENT FACTORS AFFECTING THE REACTION RATE

Keerthivasan Gopalraj | Mg with HCL | 30/07/18

Background Information
When acids and metals react, a salt is produced. The reaction can be
observed physical as shown in the image above where the chemical reaction
can be seen via bubbles on the magnesium. The reactant to product can be
written as acid + metal = salt + hydrogen. Moreover, the factors such as
temperature, surface area, concentration and catalysts can vary the rate of
reaction. If the temperature is increased, the particles have more energy and
so move quicker. Increasing the temperature increases the rate of reaction
because the particles collide more often and with more energy. The rate of a
chemical reaction can be raised by increasing the surface area of a solid
reactant. This is done by cutting the substance into small pieces, or by
grinding it into a powder. When this is done the smaller the molecule the
bigger the surface area. If the surface area of a reactant is increased, more
particles are exposed to the other reactant. If the reactant concentration
increases the rate of a given reaction generally increases as well. A catalyst
can increase the rate of a reaction by providing an alternative pathway that
causes the activation energy of the reaction to decrease and requires less
energy to react.

Aim
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate how different factors such as
Temperature, Catalyst, Surface area and Concentration affect the rate of
reaction between Magnesium and Hydrochloric acid.

Hypothesis
It is expected that during the experiment for temperature, the test with a
higher temperature will lead to an instantaneous reaction. During the
experiment for surface area, it is expected that the smaller the molecules, the
larger the surface area and the larger surface area will cause a faster reaction
between the metal and strong acid. When testing how catalysts affect the rate
of reaction it is expected that the presence of a catalyst will speed up the
reaction as the catalysts provide a different pathway for the reaction to occur
with minimal energy required. The higher the concetration of reactant the

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faster the reaction will be as there will be more collisions with particles if
the concentration is higher therefore, this will fasten the rate of reaction.

Risk assessment
Risk Impact Prevention
Beaker Beaker falling on the Wearing leather shoes
foot and causing cuts
and injuries
HCL Is a string acid and will Wearing gloves and
cause skin injuries and being careful while
eye injuries handling the acid and
wearing
goggles/glasses.
Magnesium Cuts from the metal Wearing gloves can
prevent cuts to the
hand and leather shoes
can prevent the cuts to
the foot when fallen
onto the foot.

Method
Part 1- temperature
1. Collect all equipment (Mg, HCL, 2x test tube, measuring cylinder,
funnel, Bunsen burner, tripod, gauze mat, stopwatch, scissors and
tongs).
2. Set equipment as follows:
3. Pour 100ml of HCL using measuring cylinder and funnel into the test
tube.
4. Put the test tube with acid on the gauze mat and tripod
5. Place Bunsen burner underneath the tripod and light it up
6. Heat acid till 50 degrees

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 7. Using the tongs, place the cut 1cm magnesium strip into the test tube
with 50 degrees HCL acid.
8. Start stopwatch and observe
9. Note down the time it took for the reaction to occur for both 50
degrees acid and normal temperature acid
10.Repeat same method using same acid and metal except not heating the
acid (19 degrees) at all and place metal straight into the test tube with
non-heated HCL acid and note down the time it took for reaction to
occur.
11.Repeat each experiment 3 times

Part 2- surface area

1. Collect all equipment (Mg, HCL, 2x beaker, measuring
cylinder, funnel, scissors, stopwatch and tongs).
2. Set equipment as follows:
3. Pour 100ml of HCL using measuring cylinder and funnel into
two beakers
4. Using scissors cut one strip of magnesium to length and 5 cm
and one more with the length of 10 cm
5. Using the tongs, place each magnesium into each beaker with
100ml of HCL acid
6. Start stopwatch and observe
7. Note down the time it took for the reaction to occur for both
the 5cm Mg and 10cm Mg
8. Repeat each experiment 3 times
Part 3- concentration
1. Collect all equipment (Mg, HCL, 2x beaker, measuring
cylinder, funnel, scissors, stopwatch and tongs).
2. Set equipment as follows:

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 3. Pour 100ml of HCL (0.1, 0.5, 1M) using measuring cylinder
and funnel into 3 test tubes.
4. Using scissors cut two strips of magnesium to the same
length 0.5 cm
5. Using the tongs, place each magnesium into each test tube
with different concentration of the acid.
6. Start stopwatch and observe
7. Note down the time it took for the reaction to occur for all 3
concentrations of HCL.
8. Repeat each experiment 3 times

Part 4- catalysts
1. Collect all equipment (Mg, HCL, 2x beaker, measuring
cylinder, funnel, scissors, stopwatch and tongs).
2. Set equipment as follows:
3. Pour 100ml of HCL using measuring cylinder and funnel into
two beakers
4. Place an amount of catalyst for example copper in one beaker
5. Using scissors cut two strips of magnesium to the same
length 10 cm
6. Using the tongs, place each magnesium into each beaker with
100ml of HCL acid and 100ml of HCL and catalyst
7. Start stopwatch and observe
8. Note down the time it took for the reaction to occur for both
the 100ml of HCL and 100ml of HCL with catalyst
9. Repeat each experiment 3 times

Results

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 Factor Trial 1 time Trial 2 time Trial 3 time
for reaction for reaction for reaction
Catalyst With copper With copper --NIL--
16.26 mins 20.19 mins
Temperatur 50 degrees 19 degrees --NIL--
e 1.49 mins 6.20 mins
Concentrati 1M 0.5M 0.1M
on 10.45 mins 14.30 mins 18.28 mins
Surface area 1 cm 0.5cm 0.2 cm
4.59 mins 3.22 mins 2.42 mins
Discussion
This investigation aimed to test the different factors affecting the rate of
reaction between a metal (magnesium) and acid (HCL). From the results it is
evident that higher concentration has faster reaction, higher temperature has
higher rate of reaction, presence of catalyst speeds up the rate of reaction
and smaller the magnesium piece faster the reaction as the surface area is
high for smaller objects. Reliability of this investigation was very low
considering that each factor was only tested once as for temperature 50
degrees was tested only once and 19 degrees was tested only once, where 3
trials for both 50 and 19 degrees would have made the temperature results
reliable. Furthermore, accuracy of this investigation was average as well
considering the size of the magnesium strips were not accurate and many
times the experiment was unfinished, and the time was estimated making the

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results inaccurate. However, appropriate equipment was used to establish the
experiment making it somewhat accurate. Possible future improvements for
this experiment would be to repeat each test factor, to manage time to finish
all experiment accurately and correctly sizing the magnesium strips as it is a
control and should be kept same throughout. Lastly, the validity of this
experiment was average, this is because variables were not all controlled as
the size of the magnesium was inconsistent and the experiment was
unreliable as each test factor was only tested only once. Finally, onsidering
that the investigation wasn’t valid or reliable, but the hypothesis was tested
appropriately this investigation is averagely valid.

Conclusion
The aim and hypothesis were tested correctly, and investigation tested the
hypothesis appropriately. The results show that higher concentration has
faster reaction, higher temperature has higher rate of reaction, presence of
catalyst speeds up the rate of reaction and smaller the magnesium piece
faster the reaction as the surface area is high for smaller objects. Finally, this
investigation is to be improved in the future as the validity, reliability and
accuracy were low.

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