Rate of Reaction 1

Independent variable:

● Temperature of water (*C)

Dependant variable:

● Rate of reaction (g/s)

Control Variable:

● Concentration of tablet

● Mass of tablet (g)

● Surface area of tablet

● Mass of water (g)

Testable question:

Will the temperature of the water affect the rate of reaction of an effervescent tablet dissolving in

water?

Hypothesis:

As the temperature increases the rate of reaction also increases because temperature provides the

reactants with more kinetic energy causing the particles to collide faster and more often,

lowering the activation energy. Effervescent tablets are antacids that contain sodium bicarbonate

and aspirin as the main ingredients. By reacting with hydrogen ions in citric acid, sodium

bicarbonate forms carbon dioxide when dissolved in water. Gases like carbon dioxide cause foam

and bubbles to form on the water's surface. To calculate the rate of reaction, divide the mass of
Rate of Reaction 2

the effervescent tablet by the time taken for the reaction to happen.

Figure 1: The general reaction of an effervescent tablet and water (A and H, 1985).

Materials:

● 5g of Alka-Seltzer effervescent tablet

● 100 ml of Ice Water

● 100 ml of Warm water

● 100 ml of Boiling water

● Clear drinking glasses

● Thermometer

Procedure:

1. 100 ml of Ice water was placed in a glass cup and a thermometer was used to measure the

temperature.

2. 5 grams of the Alka-Seltzer tablet was put into the water and a stopwatch was used.

3. Once the piece of effervescent tablet is dissolved stop the stop watch and record the time.

4. Repeat the previous steps for warm and boiling water.

Observation:

● The solution produced effervescence as expected during the reaction

Rate of Reaction 3

● The solution was cloudy with some precipitate of the pill still present

● The reaction showed violent effervescence at the beginning and then slowed down.

Results:

Table 1: Table of results for the rate of reaction of an Alka-Seltzer tablet.

Trial 1: Ice Water Trial 2: Warm Water Table 3: Boiling Water

Temperature of water 9.00C 38.0C 71.0C

(degrees Celsius)

Mass of Alka-Seltzer 5g 5g 5g
tablet (g)

Time (s) 114s 35.0s 22.0s

Rate of reaction (g/s) 0.04g/s 0.14g/s 0.23g/s

Graph 1: Rate of reaction of an effervescent tablet.

Rate of Reaction 4

Discussion :

The rate of reaction is the speed of a chemical reaction. It is obtained in this experiment by

dividing the mass (g) of the effervescent tablet by the time (s) it takes for the reaction to occur.

There are many factors that could affect the rate of reaction starting with temperature, where

increasing the temperature of the solution causes an increase in kinetic energy, giving the

particles more energy to collide more frequently, increasing the rate of reaction. The increase in

concentration, pressure, and a use of catalyst also contributes to the increase in the rate of

reaction.

Based on the results, my hypothesis was correct because as the temperature of the water

increased, the rate of reaction increased in value as well. A trend was seen in the graph above

that the rate of reaction slightly increased as the temperature increased as it went from 0.04g/s at

9.00C to 0.14g/s at 38.0C where the water was really cold for the first trial to warm water in the

second trial. The rate of reaction jumped from 0.14g/s to 0.23g/s at 71.0C with boiling water on

the last trial. It can be seen that the reaction becomes faster as the water becomes more hot.

In the experiment, the number of trials should be more to get a more accurate conclusion to the

results. An insulated container, for example, a calorimeter, should have been used in vacuum to

avoid heat exchange between the surroundings and the water as the temperature could have

changed, resulting in an inaccurate conclusion. Distilled water could have also been used instead

of tap water as tap water has many impurities which makes the reaction slower.
Rate of Reaction 5

Conclusion :

To conclude, the rate of reaction increases as the temperature of the water increases in a reaction.

The Alka-Seltzer effervescent tablet reacted the fastest when the water was at its highest

temperature, proving that the temperature contributes to the increase in values for the rate of

reaction as it went from 0.04g/sto 0.23 g/s from the lowest to higher temperature.
Rate of Reaction 6

Resources

A, Aslani, and Fattahi H. “[Significance of Nursing Service Administration--Problems of Its

Position. “Fish Starts to Smell at the Head First.”” Krankenpflege Journal, vol. 23, no. 3,

1 Mar. 1985, pp. 4–7, europepmc.org/article/PMC/3846033. Accessed 17 Oct. 2022.