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Factors Affecting The Rate of A Chemical Reaction: What You Will Accomplish in This Experiment
Factors Affecting The Rate of A Chemical Reaction: What You Will Accomplish in This Experiment
The change in mass as the bubbles of oxygen gas diffuse out of the reaction flask provides a way to measure how
quickly the product is being formed. The graph to the right shows the increase in oxygen concentration (as well as
the decrease in hydroxide peroxide concentration) over a period of time.
1L
Not every molecular collision can be “effective” or “successful,” in that it leads to the breaking of bonds in the
reactant molecules and the formation of new bonds in the product molecules. In fact, the result of many collisions
is that the molecules simply bounce apart without reacting.
Only molecules that collide with sufficient energy (to break the bonds) and with the correct orientation (to
exchange atoms) will have an effective (successful) collision that leads to the formation of products.
There are four factors that can influence the rate of a chemical reaction:
4. Presence of a Catalyst
A substance that increases the rate of a reaction (without itself being used up by the reaction) is called a catalyst.
Catalysts work by providing an alternate pathway for the reaction: one in which less energy is required in order to
have an effective collision. Put another way, a catalyst lowers the Activation Energy that is required for reactants
to be converted into products.
Some catalysts can increase the rate of a great number of different reactions, while other catalysts, such as the
enzymes in living systems, are specific to just one reaction, or even to just a single type of reactant molecule.
In this experiment, you’ll investigate the effect of concentration and temperature on the rate of the reaction
between solutions of potassium permanganate (KMnO4, an ionic compound) and oxalic acid (H2C2O4, a molecular
compound).
5 H2C2O4 (aq) + 2 MnO4- (aq) + 6 H+ (aq) → 2 Mn2+ (aq) + 10 CO2 (aq) + 8 H2O (aq)
∆ሾܱ݊ܯܭସ ሿ
ܴܽ= ݁ݐ
∆ ݁݉݅ݐ
The symbol “∆” in the equation above means “change in,” and the square brackets around the chemical formula
for potassium permanganate means “concentration of” in Molarity units (of moles/liter).
So the reaction rate is calculated by dividing the change in the permanganate ion concentration by the elapsed
time.
But the change in the permanganate concentration is simply the difference between the initial concentration (at the
start of the reaction) and the final concentration (at the end of the reaction). And as discussed above, the final
concentration is assumed to be 0 moles/liter (when the disappearance of the purple color signals that the reaction
has gone to completion).
Thus the change in concentration will be the same numerical value as the initial concentration.
And the change in time is simply the number of seconds that elapses from the start of the reaction at time zero
(when the reactant solutions are mixed) until the purple color has faded to yellow-brown.
Thus the rate equation simplifies to:
ሾܱ݊ܯܭସ ሿ௧
ܴܽ= ݁ݐ
݈݁ܽ݁݉݅ݐ ݀݁ݏ
As mentioned above, you’ll study the effects of concentration and temperature on the rate of this reaction.
Effect of Concentration:
• You’ll conduct a series of experiments in which the concentration of one reactant will be varied, while the
temperature and concentration of the second reactant will be held constant.
Effect of Temperature:
• You’ll conduct a series of experiments in which only the temperature of the reaction will be varied, while
the concentration of all reactants will be held constant.
For each set of reaction conditions, you must determine the initial permanganate concentration and the elapsed
time in order to determine the rate of the reaction.
4. Dispose of the used solution in a waste beaker at your lab bench. Rinse and dry the reaction test tube.
5. Record the temperature of the remaining distilled water in the stock supply test tube. You’ll assume that this is
the temperature at which all three trials of all three experiments were conducted. The three trails of
Experiment 1 will also serve as your room temperature data for Part C.
D. Calculation of Results
1. Realize that when the KMnO4 solution was added to the distilled water and H2C2O4 mixture, it was diluted
from its original stock concentration by the volumes of water and oxalic acid solution. That means you’ll need
to calculate the concentration of KMnO4 that was present in the reaction test tube at the instant the reaction
began. This requires use of the dilution formula you learned in your lecture course:
ܥଵ ܸଵ = ܥଶ ܸଶ
In this formula:
• C1 is the stock concentration of KMnO4
• V1 is the volume of KMnO4 added to the distilled water and H2C2O4 mixture.
• V2 is the total volume of solution in your reaction test tube (the volumes of distilled water, H2C2O4, and
KMnO4).
When these substitutions are made, and the dilution formula is rearranged to solve for “C2”, the result is:
2. Finally, you’ll calculate the Average Rate of Reaction for EACH Experiment:
ሾܱ݊ܯܭସ ሿ௧
= ݊݅ݐܴܿܽ݁ ݂ ݁ݐܴܽ ݁݃ܽݎ݁ݒܣ
݁݉݅ܶ ݀݁ݏ݈ܽܧ ܧܩܣܴܧܸܣ
Note that for the Effect of Concentration study (part B of the procedure), you’ll calculate the Average Rate of
Reaction for EACH of the three Experiments, using
• The [KMnO4]initial used in EACH Experiment
• The average elapsed time (the average time of reaction from the three TRIALS you ran for each
EXPERIMENT).
And note that for the Effect of Temperature study (part C of the procedure), you’ll calculate the Average Rate
of Reaction at EACH of the three Temperatures, using
• The [KMnO4]initial (which was held constant for all trials at all temperatures)
• The average elapsed time (the average time of reaction from the three TRIALS you ran at each
TEMPERATURE).
Effect of Concentration
Experiment 1:
Drops of Distilled Water Drops of H2C2O4 Drops of KMnO4 Elapsed Time, sec
Trial 1 6 5 1
Trial 2 6 5 1
Trial 3 6 5 1
Average Elapsed Time
for Experiment 1:
Experiment 2:
Drops of Distilled Water Drops of H2C2O4 Drops of KMnO4 Elapsed Time, sec
Trial 1 1 10 1
Trial 2 1 10 1
Trial 3 1 10 1
Average Elapsed Time
for Experiment 2:
Experiment 3:
Drops of Distilled Water Drops of H2C2O4 Drops of KMnO4 Elapsed Time, sec
Trial 1 5 5 2
Trial 2 5 5 2
Trial 3 5 5 2
Average Elapsed Time
for Experiment 3:
Experiment 2:
Experiment 3:
Experiment 2:
Experiment 3:
b) How did this increase in reactant concentration affect the rate of reaction (no effect, doubled, tripled, quadrupled)?
_______________________________________
2. In the Effect of Concentration study, compare your procedure and results for Experiments 1 and 3.
a) Which reactant concentration was increased (KMnO4 or H2C2O4)? ________________________________________
b) How did this increase in reactant concentration affect the rate of reaction (no effect, doubled, tripled, quadrupled)?
_______________________________________
4. What effect did increasing the temperature have on the RATE of this reaction?
Did the change in rate match the “rule of thumb” (each time the temperature is increased by 10oC, the rate of the
reaction doubles)?
Explain your results.
5. What would be your estimate of the reaction RATE if you decreased the temperature by 10oC by allowing the
reaction test tube to cool in an ice-water bath?
(Think through this – Would the time required for the reaction be longer or shorter? And how would that affect
the rate?) Explain your reasoning.