Solutions

S1.

Hydrogen peroxide, H 2 O 2, is an oxidizing agent that often finds use in water purification

processes. It readily decomposes to oxygen and water in the presence of a manganese dioxide

catalyst:

2 H 2 O2 Mn O 2(s ) 2 H 2 0 +¿ O2
→

Data

Time, minutes [H2O2], M ln [H2O2] 1/[ H 2 O2]

0 0.032 -3.44 31.25
10 0.023 -3.77 43.48
20 0.018 -4.01 55.56
30 0.013 -4.34 76.92
40 0.0099 -4.62 101.0
50 0.0071 -4.95 140.8

We are going to plot the various graphs as shown below

Rate constant

Calculating the rate constant is straightforward because we know that the slope of the graph of

ln([H2O2]) versus time for a first order reaction is simply –k.

This means that we can calculate the slope using any two points that lie on the line in the plot

of ln([H2O2]) versus time.

We chose using the points t=0 and t=40

For these chosen points, we have the below coordinates

(40 ,−4.62) and (0 ,−3.44)

Therefore,

(−4.62 )− (−3.44 )
Slope ¿ ¿ −2.95 ∙10−2 s−1
( 40 ) −( 0 )

Hence, k =2.95 ∙10−2 s−1

Order of reaction

The plots of ln ([H2O2]) versus time gives a straight line with a negative gradient whereas the

graphs of [H2O2] versus time and 1/[H2O2] versus time do not.

This means that the decomposition of H2O2 is first order in [H2O2].

S2.

The rate constant, k, for the reaction between hydrogen peroxide and potassium iodide to

form iodine and water,

Temperature, oC k, L mol-1 s-1

44.5 1.66 x 10-3
35.0 1.02 x 10-3
25.7 6.63 x 10-3
15.1 2.98 x 10-3
4.5 1.17 x 10-3

Temperature, oC k, L mol-1 s-1 Temperature, 1/T (1/K) ln(K)

K
44.5 1.66 x 10-3 317.5 0.00315 -6,401
35.0 1.02 x 10-3 308 0.00325 -6,888
25.7 6.63 x 10-3 298.7 0.00335 -5,016
15.1 2.98 x 10-3 288.1 0.00347 -5,816
4.5 1.17 x 10-3 277.5 0.00360 -6,751

Assumption

Since we are going to determine the activation energy from the graph, we could just consider

the last three points in the data analysis. This is because it is only with these said points that

we have a linear relationship.

It does not affect the answer from the definition of activation energy.
 Graph

Let’s find the activation energy

From our graph,

Slope=¿ −6785.5

But we know that,

−Ea
Slope ¿ ⟹ Ea =−R∗Slope ¿ −6 7855∗8.314∗10−5 ¿ 5.64 ∙ 104 J /mol
R

Therefore, activation energy, Ea =5.64 ∙10 4 J /mol ⟹ Ea ≅ 56.4 KJ /mol