The Kinetics of the

Decomposition of
Hydrogen Peroxide

Name: Fatima Ahen

Course: CHEM 120-501
Instructor: Dr.Hicham
Date: February 17th , 2021 Lab
Experiment #20
Abstract:

The main objective of this experiment was to understand the chemical kinetics and determine the
rate of the reaction of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen using
potassium iodide as the catalyst. The effect of changing the concentrations and catalyst on the
rate of the reaction was also investigated. Conclusions were developed regarding the rate of
decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and how iodide ions act as a catalyst when added in the
solution.

A number of trials were performed differing the concentrations of H2O2 as well as the
concentration of KI. The rate was determined by measuring the rate at which O2 forces the
solution out of the flask in which the liquid is contained. The rate was found by multiplying the
rate constant and the molar concentration of the reactants with the molar concentration of the
reactants taking the reaction order into account. 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 𝑘[𝐻2 𝑂2 ]𝑚 [𝐾𝐼] 𝑛 . The finding shows
that the rate order in 𝐻2 𝑂2 is first order and the rate order in KI is also first order. Thus, having
an overall rate order of a second order reaction. Reaction rates can be determined at any point in
a chemical reaction and can be determined with respect to different substances within the
reactions which are usually the reactants. Reaction rates can be affected by several things
including concentration over time, temperature changes, addition of a catalyst, as well as
changing the surface area. Rate value was obtained to be 0.0007 and an average rate constant
value to be 0.0067.

There are several uses to hydrogen peroxide in our daily lives. An industry which uses H2O2 is
the dentistry industry. It is used to treat gum diseases and reduce the plaque on the teeth. It is
also used in the pharmaceutics industry as a disinfectant to the wounds on a human’s body. This
is because hydrogen peroxide is successful in helping to kill the bacteria.

Results:

Time/Sec Volume/mL Vol(lit) nmole[o2] [O2]

0 0 0 0 0
15 1.5 0.0015 0.0006045 0.013433
30 2 0.002 0.000806 0.01791
45 2.5 0.0025 0.0010075 0.022388
60 2.8 0.0028 0.0011284 0.025075
75 2.9 0.0029 0.0011687 0.02597
Table 1- shows the amount of oxygen formed when 15ml of KI was used with 20 mL of water and 10 mL of H2O2
 Time/Sec Volume/mL Vol(lit) nmole[o2] [O2]
0 0 0 0 0
15 0.7 0.0007 0.0002821 0.006269
30 1 0.001 0.000403 0.008955
45 2.3 0.0023 0.0009269 0.020597
60 4.4 0.0044 0.0017731 0.039403
75 5.9 0.0059 0.0023776 0.052836
Table 2-shows the amount of oxygen formed when 15ml of KI was used with 10 mL of water and 20 mL of H2O2

Time/Sec Volume/mL Vol(lit) nmole[o2] [O2]

0 0 0 0 0
15 1.5 0.0015 0.0006045 0.013433
30 1.5 0.0015 0.0006045 0.013433
45 1.7 0.0017 0.0006851 0.015224
60 2.5 0.0025 0.0010075 0.022388
75 2.5 0.0025 0.0010075 0.022388
Table 3-shows the amount of oxygen formed when 25ml of KI was used with 10 mL of water and 10 mL of H2O2

Time/Sec Volume/mL Vol(lit) nmole[o2] [O2]

0 0 0 0 0
15 9.5 0.0095 0.0038283 0.085074
30 13.6 0.0136 0.0054806 0.121791
45 17.7 0.0177 0.0071328 0.158507
60 21.4 0.0214 0.0086239 0.191641
75 25.7 0.0257 0.0103567 0.230148
Table 4-shows the amount of oxygen formed when 20ml of potato juice was used and 20 mL of H2O2
 0.5 Rate of formation of 02
0.45 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4

0.4
Concentration of 02 formed

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Time in seconds
Figure 1- shows concentration over time for the rate of formation of 02 with different concentrations used

In this lab, four experiments were done in order to take an accurate reading of the average rate.
Figure 1 shows the rate of formation of 𝑂2 for 4 different trials. Trials 1,2 and 3 were done by
altering the volumes of water, I-, and 𝐻2 𝑂2 . However, in trial 4 the iodide was removed, and the
potato was used instead as a catalyst. In each trial, the total volume always remained 45 mL. In
essence, the effect of iodide ions is measured in this lab. As shown in. figure 1 the formation of
O2 in trial 4 was much faster than the rest of the trials since it has the steepest slope, this is
because potato juice was used which acted as a strong catalyst.

RATE
CONSTANT
[H2O2] VOL[I] VOL[w] VOL[H2O2] [I]M [H2O2]M RATE (L/mol*s)
[i-] 15 20 10 0.05 0.2 0.0007 0.007
m/[I-] 15 10 20 0.05 0.4 0.0014 0.007
n/[H2o2] 25 10 10 0.083 0.2 0.001 0.006
Average 0.0067
Volume Volume Volume of
Experiment H2O H2O2 potato juice
(mL) (mL) (mL)
4 20 20 20

Table 5- this table shows the rate and rate constant of the trials 1,2 and 3
Table 5 shows the amounts of reactants used in this experiment and the initial concentration of
the reactants. The rates that were calculated in the previous graph is shown as well. The rates
were obtained by finding the slope from fig 1 of each curve. Out of the first three trials, trial 2
had the greatest rate with a rate value of 0.0014 this shows that by decreasing the volume of
water and increasing the volume of hydrogen peroxide the reaction took place at a faster rate and
it is shown in fig 1 that trial 2 has a steep line. The rate constant was obtained by dividing the
molar concentrations of the reactants over the rate obtained from the slope. The average rate
constant was found to be 0.0067. The rate constants for the three trials were fairly similar. A
great rate constant means a relatively fast reaction whereas a small constant rate means a
relatively slow reaction. The rate constant does not depend on the concentrations of the reactants
unlike the rate.

Calculations:

Determine the order of each substance

To find the order of H2O2, the following equation was used:
𝑒𝑥𝑝. 2= 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 𝑘[𝐻2𝑂2][𝐼 −]𝑦
over
𝑒𝑥𝑝. 1 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 𝑘[𝐻2𝑂2]𝑚[𝐼 −]𝑛
exp. 2 = 0.0014 = k[20]m [15]n The constant k and the [15]n can be cancelled out,
exp. 1 0.0007 k[10]m [15]n allowing us to solve for the variable m.
2 = 2m
m=1

To find the order of I-, the following equation was used:

𝑒𝑥𝑝. 2= 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 𝑘[𝐻2𝑂2][𝐼 −]𝑦
over
𝑒𝑥𝑝. 4 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 𝑘[𝐻2𝑂2]𝑚[𝐼 −]𝑛
exp. 3 = 0.001 = k[10]m [25]n The constant k and the [10]m can be cancelled out,
exp. 1 0.0007 k[10]m [15]n allowing us to solve for the variable n
2=2n
n=1

Determine rate constant

To find constant k, both m and n were plugged into one of the experiments equation line
𝑒𝑥𝑝. 1 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 𝑘[𝐻2𝑂2]𝑚[𝐼 −]𝑛
0.0014 = k(0.4)(0.005)
0.0014 = k(0.02)
K = 0.007
Rate Law:

Rate = K[H2O2][KI]

[KI] = 0.05 M

[H2O2] = 0.2 M

Rate =0.007*0.05 *0.2

Rate= 7*10^-4

Discussion:

Figure 1 shows the change in the concentration of oxygen obtained from the decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide versus time. The first slope shows that the rate of reaction is slower due to the
change of the concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide to KI by increasing their concentrations the
rate is going to increase further. For the starch and juice of potato which was only 5 mL the slope
is very steep, and the rate of the reaction is the fastest. Based on the rate of the reaction for the
three trials and the initial concentration of H2O2 and KI the rate order can be determined. By
having determine the rate order in KI and H2O2, rate constant can be deduced, and it should be
constant for the three trials.

In this lab, the undefined variables m and ns were solved for. We found m and n both to be one
with the overall order reaction being second order. These are the orders of the reaction,
accompanied by finding the constant k, which allowed the final rate law to be determined. The
complete rate law is as follows: Rate= (1.98x10-3)(H2O2)1(I-)1. By defining a rate law, the rate of
decomposition can be determined mathematically for each and any value wanted, helping us
further understand the importance of catalysts. . It was found that when the concentration of
different substances within a reaction are increased then the rate of the reaction also increases,
thereforem there is a direct relationship between concentration and reaction rate. It was found
that when a catalyst was used in a reaction the time it took for the reaction to occur decreased
and therefor the rate of the reaction increased. This is due to increasing the concentration of a
substance in a solution which increased the probability of the particles colliding with each other
and reacting.

The literature rate constant value for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is (1.42 ± 0.07) ×
10−9 m·s−1. This value is not very close to the value that we obtained. Systematic errors could
be the reason behind this. The most obvious source of error is not having the lid of the bottle
screwed on tight enough. This could result in oxygen escaping and leading to less product being
collected in the graduated cylinder. We can conclude from this experiment that the higher the
concentration of solution, the higher the reaction rate. Another example is the little drops of the
solution that did not get captured in the test tubes, during the transfer of liquids. That would
make the decomposition appear slower than the actual rate. Another potential error is the
evaporation of the liquids that cannot be recorded with the equipment used. Evaporation would
make the decomposition appear faster than the actual decomposed material.

Overall, this lab was successful in terms of determining a rate law and giving the general idea of
the effects of iodide ions in a hydrogen peroxide solution.