6.

1 Chemical Reaction Rates

 Useful Resources

• Flipped lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW4PfumNwSE&li
st=PLVKTjV4NoC8_RTmBaWTYs_BquGgH7hWwu

• Flipped lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-

at6kCQMnU&list=PLVKTjV4NoC8_RTmBaWTYs_BquGgH
7hWwu&index=2
 Intro to Rate of Reaction

• Chemical Kinetics: The area of chemistry that

deals with rates of reactions (what makes
reactions go fast or slow?)
• Area of active research: For many reactions,
“what” happens is understood, however, the
“how” or “why” a reaction happens is still not
clear (this knowledge = $)
 Describing Reaction Rates

• Rate implies some quantity per unit of time….

• Speed km/h, pay $11/hr are all rates

• In chemistry, rates are usually change in quantity

per unit of time
 Describing Reaction Rates

• Rate of a Chemical Reaction: measure of the

speed at which chemical change occurs
• Usually measure the rate product is formed
or reactants are consumed
• Measured as change in concentration per
unit of time
• Has units of mol L s
-1 -1
 Describing Reaction Rates

• Rate of a Chemical Reaction: Shown below is the

conversion of compound A → B
 Describing Reaction Rates

• Reaction rates can be found using the formula:

Average reaction rate = change in concentration

Time
r = Δ[c]
Δt
• Where r is average reaction rate, the brackets [ ]
mean concentration, Δc is change in concentration
and Δ t is change in time.
 Describing Reaction Rates
• For the reaction, A + B → C
• The rate (r) can be expressed in terms of
product formation or reactant consumption
• “-” rate of consumption of reactant
• “+” rate of consumption of product
– numerical value for r is an absolute value
 Example 1
• What is the average
rate of production of
ammonia for the
system, between 1.0
and 4.0 min, if the
concentration of
ammonia is 3.5 mol/L
after 1.0 min and 6.2
mol/L after 4.0 min?
(Ans: 0.90 mol/L▪min)
 Changes in Rates

• Average rate of Reaction: The speed at which a reaction

proceeds over a period of time (concentration of a
reactant or product over a period of time)

• Average rate of reaction typically DECREASES

over time

• Concentration of reactants decreases with time

and the reaction rate usually depends on the
reactant concentration
 Changes in Rates
• Average rate of Reaction: The rate of change of
concentration of a reactant or product over a time
interval; the absolute value of the slope of a secant
(line between two points)
 Changes in Rates

• Instantaneous rate of Reaction: The rate of change

of concentration of a reactant or product at a
specific period in time
• The absolute value for the slope of a tangent line
(drawn at a specific point).
 Changes in Rates

• For most rxns: (1) Concentration changes are more rapid

at the beginning & (2) rxn rates decrease with time

• Reaction rate is always reported as an absolute value (No

+ or -)

• **When reporting reaction rate, you

must specify which reactant or
product was monitored since these do
not always change in a 1:1 ratio!**
 Rate Graphs
• From the point of view of the reactants, the reaction rate
would always be negative
• From the point of H2 (g) + I2 (g) → 2HI(g)
view of the products,
the reaction rate
would always be
positive
• For this reason,
reaction rate is
reported as an absolute
value
 Expressing Rates of Reactions

• By measuring the rate of change of one reactant or

product, you can calculate the rate of change of all
others in the reaction
• Simply use the coefficients and mole ratios (anyone
remember stoichiometry?!)

• Make sure the equation is balanced first!

 Example 2

• What are the rates of reaction for each reactant

-
and product? (The rate of reaction for IO3 is 3.0 x
-5
10 mol/L▪S) (Ans: see next slide)
1 IO3- +5 I- +6 H+ → 3 I2 + 3H2O

NOTE: The rate of reaction may vary

with different stoichiometric ratios
 Example 3

A 3.25 g sample of sodium hydrogen carbonate reacts

completely with sulfuric acid in a time of 20s. Express
the average rate of reaction as: (Ans: see next slide)

2NaHCO3 + H2SO4 → Na2SO4 + 2H2O + 2CO2

a) Mass of NaHCO3 consumed per second

b) Mass of H2SO4 consumed per second
c) Amount of H2SO4 consumed per second
d) Amount of CO2 produced per second
 Methods to Measure Reaction Rates

• All methods involve measuring the rate of

disappearance of a reactant or the production of
a product

• Since reactants and products can be solids,

liquids or gases, the method used depends on the
types of substances and the type of reaction

• Ideally, the scientist measures the rate directly

without disturbing the progress of the rxn
 Methods to Measure Reaction Rates

• Any property that changes between the start and

end of the reaction can be used (in theory)

• Want properties that will have a LARGE change

compared to limits of accuracy of the measurement

• The property should be directly proportional to

concentration (hence pH is not recommended
because pH scale is logarithmic)
 Methods to Measure Reaction Rates

Reactions that produce a gas:

• The gas can be collected and the volume or pressure
of the gas can be quantified as the rxn proceeds

• The faster the rxn, the greater the

change in volume or pressure

Zn + 2HCl → ZnCl2 + H2
 Methods to Measure Reaction Rates

Reactions that produce a gas:

 Methods to Measure Reaction Rates

Reactions that produce a gas:

• Another way to monitor gas production is to monitor
the decrease in mass as the gas escapes from the
flask
• CaCO3 + 2HCl → CaCl2 + CO2 + H2O
 Measuring Reaction Rates

Reactions that Involve Ions:

• One can measure the change in conductivity of the
reaction and plot it as a function of time

• Hydrolysis of Alkyl Halides: The faster

the rxn, the more ions generated, the
greater the conductivity
 Measuring Reaction Rates

Reactions that Change Colour

• One can measure the intensity of a colored reactant
or product using a spectrophotometer

• The yellow color of the hypoiodite ions

become more intense as the rxn
proceeds
Methods to Measure Reaction Rates