Core Science Coursework

Investigation into how acid concentration affects rate of reaction

Patrick Devaney

Equipment List
Conical Flask- I made sure that the bung fitted perfectly so that no gas escaped 100cm Gas Syringe- This measured in increments of 1cm for maximum accuracy Digital Stopwatch- I used this to get a more accurate result, rather than using a traditional stop clock Measuring Cylinder- This measured in increments of 1 ml for maximum accuracy Magnesium Ribbon- Cut to a standard size to ensure it will react with all of the acid, and to ensure consistency in the result Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) - Ranging in concentration from 0.6 to 1.0 molar Retort Stand Clamp Safety Glasses Delivery Tube Boss

Method
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Set up equipment on bench, move all bags and tripping hazards out of the way, put on safety glasses Measure out 50cm of HCl, and ensure gas syringe is zeroed Put magnesium ribbon in conical flask with HCl, then firmly put bung in top of conical flask Start timer immediately Stop timer as soon as gas syringe reads 50cm Completely wash and dry conical flask, then zero gas syringe Repeat 5 times for each molarity

Raw Data

1
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 78.83 49.97 35.43 29.81 22.77

2
79.44 44.78 35.22 29.30 26.59

3
79.25 40.47 35.69 27.44 24.31

4
74.78 42.40 34.38 31.12 22.44

5
78.00 42.84 33.21 27.97 23.62

Mean Time (S) 78.88 42.62 34.79 29.13 23.29

Graph Showing Mean Time Taken to Collect 50cm3 of H2 Gas (s)

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0.6 0.7 0.8 Molarity 0.9 1 Mean Time (s)

Acid Concentration 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

Average Time 78.88 42.62 34.79 29.13 23.29

Rate of Reaction 0.013 0.023 0.029 0.034 0.043

Graph Showing Rate of Reaction

0.05 0.045 0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 0.01 0.005 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 Acid Concentration (Molarity)

Rate of Reaction

Conclusion
From doing my experiment I have found that by increasing the concentration of an acid you will also increase the rate of reaction. For example at 0.6 molar, the rate of reaction was only 0.013; the rate of reaction then increased with each increase in concentration until at 1.0 molar, the rate of reaction was 0.043. I can also see from looking at my graph that there is a positive correlation between the rate of reaction and the concentration of the acid, in that by increasing the concentration you will also be increasing the rate of reaction. This can be explained by collision theory, which states that when there are more particles in a set volume, there will also be more reactions; this is because if there are more particles, the particles are going to be more likely to collide with the energy required to initiate a reaction. There are a few different ways to affect the rate of reaction. These include temperature, which affects the rate of reaction by making the particles become more energetic and speed up, which means that there will be more collisions and therefore more reactions. Another way is to increase the surface area of the reactants; this affects the rate of reaction because with a bigger surface area there are more particles available to react, increasing the rate of reaction. You could also increase the concentration (which is the variable which I chose to investigate); this affects the rate of reaction by changing the number of particles available to react. The reason that 0.6 reacts slower than 1.0 is that it is more diluted; this means that compared to 1.0, there are more water particles and less acid particles. The opposite is true of 1.0, which is more concentrated; this means that compared to 0.6 it has less water particles and more acid particles, meaning that it is more likely to collide and produce a reaction. In my investigation I investigated 5 different molarities; this means that the conclusions I can draw from it are quite limited. From this investigation, I can safely estimate any values inside the molarities that I investigated; however out side these I can only make an educated guess. If I where to do the investigation again, I would investigate a wider range of molarities, as this would let me refine and expand my results, to become more reliable and precise.

0.6 More Dilute

1.0 More Concentrated

Evaluation
When considering safety for my experiment, I had to think about a number of elements. The most high-risk part of the experiment was coming into direct contact with the acid, as it is an irritant and would bleach my skin. The steps I took to prevent this included wearing safety glasses to stop acid making contact with my eyes, and standing up for the experiment, so that in the event of the acid spilling I could move away quickly so as to avoid coming in contact with the acid. When Doing my experiment, I was aware that there are a number of factors which limit the accuracy of my results, meaning that they can never be 100% accurate; however I took a number of steps to make this margin of error as small as possible. The first of these was to use a digital stopwatch as opposed to a analogue stop clock; the digital stopwatch is much more accurate as it gives the reading in numbers, meaning that there is very little opportunity for human error in recording the result. Another step I took was to use a gas syringe that measured to the nearest cm3; this means that the results should be very accurate as it goes up in small increments. If I had to carry out the experiment again, I would do a number of things differently. The main, and most important thing, is to carry out the experiment as many times as possible; this is because each time you carry out the experiment, it further refines the mean. This means that by doing the experiment a large number of times, I will get closer and closer to the actual value. I would also carry out the experiment with a larger variety of molarities, as this would mean that I would not gave to estimate as many values when drawing out my graph. Another thing I would do is to make sure that all of my equipment is properly prepared for the experiment; this includes drying off the gas syringe to avoid it sticking, and completely washing and drying the conical flask to avoid it diluting the acid. The final thing I would do is to keep the acid in a water bath in between experiments; this is because the temperature of the acid affects how it reacts, meaning that my results will have a variable which is not accounted for. On the subject of my actual results, I am fairly confident that my data is consistent and reliable. I can say this because in 25 results, I found only 3 outliers; which means that the data must be quite accurate. When I found these outliers, I also made sure as to highlight them and not include them in my results when working out my mean times. Just from looking at my graph, I can see that the results are quite reliable, as the graph follows a clear pattern, which lets me predict values that I have not yet tested with quite a high degree of accuracy. Another thing that makes me confident in my results is that the error bars are very small; this means that the results must be very precise and accurate, as they are all very close to each other. In my results I found a number of outliers, such as the fourth result for 0.6 molar, and the second result for 1.0 molar. The reasons for these outliers are mainly due to human error; this includes not starting and stopping the stop watch exactly on time, misreading the syringe, writing down the result wrong, the acid being diluted due to not drying out the conical flask properly, the gas syringe sticking due to moisture in the tube etc. If I were to do the experiment again then I could avoid these by setting the equipment up more carefully for each repeat of the experiment, making sure that I am extremely precise in recording the results, and make sure that I press the button on the stopwatch exactly at the right time.