CHAPTER 10 RATE OF REACTION: EXPERIMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE RATE OF REACTION 9 ) Factor : Size of reactant

Problem statement : How does the surface area of a solid reactant affect the rate of reaction Hypotesis : The smaller the size of solid reactant , the higher the rate of reaction Experiment I 20 cm3 of 0.5 mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid + 5.0 g of large calcium carbonate chips Experiment II 20 cm3 of 0.5 mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid + 5.0 g of small calcium carbonate chips Variables : Manipulated variables : Size of the marble chips Responding variables : volume of gas collected in 30 second interval Constant variables : mass of marble chips Apparatus : Conical flask , delivery tube , retort stand and clamp, burette , measuring cylinder and stopwatch . Materials : Marble chips , powdered marble and 0.5 mol dm-3 hydrocholoric acid. Balanced equation : CaCO3 + 2HCl CaCl2 + H2O + CO2

Observable changes to measure rate of reaction : The volume of gas collected in 30 seconds interval by water displacement in a burette. Diagram :

Procedure : 1. A burette is filled with water and inverted over a basin containing water . The burette is clamped to the retort stand . The water level in the burette is adjusted and the initial burette reading is recorded. 2. 5.0 g of marble chips are placed in a small conical flask . 3. 20 cm3 of 0.5 mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid is added to the marble chips 4. The conical flask is then stoppered and the stopwatch is started immediately . 5. The burette readings are recorded at 30-second intervals. Tabulation of data : Experiment 1 : Time (s) Burette reading (cm3) Volume of gas (cm3) 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240

50.00

45.50

41.50

38.00

35.00

33.00

31.00

29.00

28.00

0.00

4.50

8.50

12.00

15.00

17.00

19.00

21.00

22.00

Experiment 2 : Time (s) Burette reading (cm3) Volume of gas (cm3) 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240

50.00

42.00

35.00

29.50

25.50

22.00

19.50

17.50

16.00

0.00

8.00

15.00

20.50

24.50

28.00

30.50

32.50

34.00

Sketch of the graph :

Explanation :

1. The reaction between hydrochloric acid and marble chips produces carbon dioxide gas, calcium chloride solution and water. 2. Based on the graphs plotted, the curve for experiment 2 is steeper than experiment 1 3. This means the rate of reaction for experiment 2 (using small marble chips) is higher than experiment 1 (using large marble chips). This is because small marble chips have a larger total exposed surface area. 4. The curves becomes less steep with time due to the decrease in concentration of hydrochloric acid and mass of marble chips. 5. If both experiments are continued until the reaction is completed, the following graph will be obtained. 6. Both experiments produce the same maximum volume of carbon dioxide gas. This is because both experiments use the same a) concentration and volume of hydrochloric acid b) mass of marble chips (calcium carbonate) 7. The maximum volume of carbon dioxide gas collected is less than the theoretical volume because a small volume of carbon dioxide gas has dissolved in the water when it is collected in the burette. 8. To overcome the problem, one should pass the carbon dioxide gas through the water for a few

minutes before starting the experiment. This is to saturate the water with carbon dioxide before collecting the gas in the burette.
Conclusion : 1. The smaller the the size of reactant , the larger the total surface area exposed for reaction and the higher the rate of reaction . 2. The hypothesis is accepted.