Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: Rate of Chemical Reactions

The diagram below depicts the progress of a reaction. Each shape and color represents
a different substance. The three boxes represent the concentrations of each substance
as the indicated time elapses. Refer to the diagram to answer questions 1 – 4.

Time = 0 seconds Time = 15 seconds Time = 30 seconds

1. Select all images that represent reactants. There may be more than one reactant.
a.
b.
c.

2. Which statement is true?

a. The rate of change of substance is twice the magnitude as the rate of
change of substance .
b. The rate of change of substance is equal to the rate of change of substance
.
c. The rate of change of substance is twice the magnitude as the rate of change
of substance .
d. The rate of change of substance is equal in magnitude but opposite in sign to
the rate of change of substance .

3. If each colored image represents 0.10 M of the substance, determine the rate (in
M/s) of change of substance over the first 15 seconds.
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: Comparing Rate of Change for Reactants and

Products
1. Consider the following reaction:

2N2O5(g) → 2N2O4(g) + O2(g)

If, at some point during the reaction, the rate of disappearance of N2O5 is 0.15
M/s, what is the rate of appearance of O2?

2. Consider the following reaction

4NH3(g) + 5O2(g) → 4NO(g) + 6H2O(g)

At some point during the reaction, the rate of appearance of NO is 0.0100 M/s. What is
the rate of disappearance of O2 at this same point in the reaction?
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: The Rate Law

1. The rate law of the reaction

2H2(g) + 2NO(g) → N2(g) + 2H2O(g)

is rate = k[H2][NO]2. Which of the following statements is/are false?

a. The reaction is 3rd order overall.

b. The reaction is 2nd order in H2.
c. The reaction is 2nd order in NO.
d. The reaction is 1st order in H2O.

2. The rate law of the reaction

2H2(g) + 2NO(g) → N2(g) + 2H2O(g)

is rate = k[H2][NO]2. What will be the effect on the rate of the reaction if the
concentrations of both H2 and NO are doubled?
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: Rate of Chemical Reactions

The diagram below depicts the progress of a reaction. Each shape and color represents
a different substance. The three boxes represent the concentrations of each substance
as the indicated time elapses. Refer to the diagram to answer questions 1 – 4.

Time = 0 seconds Time = 15 seconds Time = 30 seconds

1. Question: Select all images that represent reactants. There may be more than one
reactant.
a.
b.
c.

Answer: The amount of reactant will decrease as the reaction progresses. Therefore
answer b is the reactant.
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

2. Question: Which statement is true?

a. The rate of change of substance is twice the magnitude as the rate of
change of substance .
b. The rate of change of substance is equal to the rate of change of substance
.
c. The rate of change of substance is twice the magnitude as the rate of change
of substance .
d. The rate of change of substance is equal in magnitude but opposite in sign to
the rate of change of substance .

Answer: The rate of change is determined by the change in concentration of the

substance divided by the change in time.
Answer a. is true. In the first 15 second time interval twice as much of is formed
than . Therefore [ ]/15 s will be twice as big as [ ]/15 s.

3. Question: If each colored image represents 0.10 M of the substance, determine the
rate (in M/s) of change of substance over the first 15 seconds.

Answer: The rate of change for substance is determined by ( at 15 seconds -

at 0 seconds)/15 seconds.
Remember, each is equal to 0.10 M.
Therefore the rate of change of = (0.4 M – 0.8 M)/15 s = –0.027 M/s
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: Comparing Rate of Change for Reactants and

Products
1. Question: Consider the following reaction:

2N2O5(g) → 2N2O4(g) + O2(g)

If, at some point during the reaction, the rate of disappearance of N2O5 is 0.15
M/s, what is the rate of appearance of O2?

Answer: For the reaction given in the problem:

N2 O 5 N2 O 4 O2
Rate
2 t 2 t t

N2 O 5
The term “rate of disappearance of N2O5” is represented by: . The
t
O2
“rate of formation of O2” is represented by: . Use only the portion of the
t
expression that is required for this problem:

N2 O 5 O2
2 t t

O2
Put in the value given for the rate of disappearance of N2O5. And solve for
t
.

0.15 M O2
0.075 M/s
2s t
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

2. Question: Consider the following reaction

4NH3(g) + 5O2(g) → 4NO(g) + 6H2O(g)

At some point during the reaction, the rate of appearance of NO is 0.0100 M/s. What is
the rate of disappearance of O2 at this same point in the reaction?

Answer: For the reaction given in the problem:

NH 3 O2 NO H2 O
Rate
4 t 5 t 4 t 6 t

NO
The term “rate of appearance for NO” is represented by . The “rate of
t
O2
disappearance of O2 is represented by .
t

Put in the given information for the rate of appearance of NO and solve for
O2
.
t

O2 0.0100 M
5 t 4s

O2 5 0.0100 M 5
5 t 1 4s 1

O2 0.0100 M 5
0.0125 M/s
t 4s
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: The Rate Law

1. Question: The rate law of the reaction

2H2(g) + 2NO(g) → N2(g) + 2H2O(g)

is rate = k[H2][NO]2. Which of the following statements is/are false?

a. The reaction is 3rd order overall.

b. The reaction is 2nd order in H2.
c. The reaction is 2nd order in NO.
d. The reaction is 1st order in H2O.

A n s we r: The power to which the concentration is raised in the rate law

determines the order. Therefore, the reaction is first-order in H2 and 2nd order in
NO. This means that b is false and c is true. The overall order is determined by
adding the two powers together. Since, 1 + 2 = 3, the reaction is third-order,
overall. Also, d is false because products are not included in the rate law.

2 . Question: The rate law of the reaction

2H2(g) + 2NO(g) → N2(g) + 2H2O(g)

is rate = k[H2][NO]2. What will be the effect on the rate of the reaction if the
concentrations of both H2 and NO are doubled?

Answer: One way to determine the effect of concentration changes on the rate is
to do two separate calculations. In the second calculations use twice the
concentration of the two reactants as used in the first calculation. In the example
below, 1 M concentrations were used in the first calculation and 2 M was used for
the second calculation.

Rate = k(1 M)(1 M)2 = 1 M3k Rate = k(2 M) (2 M)2 = 8 M3k

Therefore as the concentrations of each substance are doubled, the rate is

increased by a factor of eight (8).
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: The Arrhenius Equation

1. Question: The rate constants for the decomposition of a certain substance
were measured at five different temperatures. The data is given in the table
below. Graphically determine the activation energy of the reaction in kJ/mol.

k (M-1s-1) T (K)

3.81 × 10–10 500

5.90 × 10–4 950

3.90 × 10–3 1100

0.221 1500

2.05 2000

Answer: A plot of ln k vs 1/T (in Kelvin) will yield a straight line with slope,
Ea
m=
R

natural log k versus 1/T

5

0
0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025
-5
ln k

-10

-15

-20
y = -14991x + 8.2835
-25
1/Temperature (1/K)
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

We can plug the value of the slope into the equation given above:

1 Ea
14991
K J
8.314
mol K

1 J
14991 8.314 Ea
K mol K

J
1.25 10 5 125 kJ/mol
mol
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

2. Question: A reaction has an activation energy of 205 kJ/mol. At 250.oC, the

rate constant is 4.45 × 10–3 s–1. Calculate the rate constant at 350.oC.

Answer: To determine the value of the rate constant at 350 oC, use the two
point Arrhenius equation:

k2 Ea 1 1
ln
k1 R T2 T1

The temperature must be in Kelvins.

Need to match the energy
T1 = 250.oC + 273 = 523 K k1 = 4.45 × 10–3 s–1
units of the activation
T2 = 350.oC + 273 = 623 K k2 = ?
energy with the energy units
or R.

k2 205,000 J/mol 1 1
ln 3 -1
4.45 10 s 8.314 J/(mol K) 623 K 523 K

k2
ln 3
7.57
4.45 10 s -1

k2
3 -1
e 7.56
4.45 10 s

k2
3 -1
1.93 10 3
4.45 10 s

k2 8.61 s -1
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: Reaction Mechanisms

1. Question: Consider the following two step mechanism for decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide.

Step 1: H2O2 + I– → H2O + IO– (slow)

Step 2: H2O2 + IO– → H2O + + O2 + I– (fast)

Answer each of the following questions.

a. Which substance or substances are intermediates?

b. Which substance (if any) is a catalyst?
c. What is the overall reaction?
d. What is the rate law?

Answer:
a. Intermediates are formed (a product) in an early step of the
mechanism and is consumed (reactant) in a later step. It will not show
up in the overall reaction. IO- is the only intermediate in the
mechanism.

b. A catalyst is consumed (reactant) in an early step of the mechanism

and is produced (product) in a later step. It too, will not show up in the
overall reaction. I- is the catalyst for this reaction.
c. Cancel out intermediates and catalysts. The reaction overall equation
is:
2H2O2 → 2H2O + O2

d. When given a mechanism, find the slow step (rate determining step)
and use the coefficients of the elementary step to determine the order.
Rate = k[H2O2][I-]
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

Kinetics: Catalysts
1. Question: Examine the following diagram depicting the potential energy
diagram for the reaction:
Potential Energy A + B → C + D.

C+D

A+B

Reaction Progress

Draw (within the same diagram above) the potential energy curve if an
effective catalyst is used in the reaction.

Answer: A catalyst works by lowering the activation energy of the reaction.

Potential Energy

C+D

A+B

Reaction Progress
 Advanced Chemistry Practice Problems

2. Question: Describe the similarities and differences between the following.

a. A homogeneous catalyst.
b. A heterogeneous catalyst.
c. An enzyme.

Answer: All catalysts work by lowering the activation energy and are not
consumed in the course of the reaction. Below are the differences of each.

a. Homogeneous catalysts are catalysts which are in the same phase as

the reactants. For example, if the reactants are aqueous, the catalyst is
also aqueous.
b. A heterogeneous catalyst is in a different phase than the reactants. For
example, if the reactants are gases, a heterogeneous gas might be a
solid.
c. An enzyme is a biological catalyst produced in a living organism.