CHEMICAL KINETICS: THE IODINE CLOCK REACTION FORMAL

REPORT IN CHEMISTRY 26.1 SUBMITTED BY STUDENT

LORENZO PAULO B. TORRES

LORENZO PAULO B. TORRES
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY
DATE SUBMITTED: 17 SEPTEMBER 2014
DATE PERFORMED: 5 SEPTEMBER 2014


ABSTRACT

This formal report discusses Experiment 3: Chemical Kinetics: the Iodine Clock Reaction, its procedures,
observations, data and gathered conclusions from the experiment information. Through the use of several different
sets of solutions, (each with different concentrations and/or temperature, with or without catalysts), the concepts
behind chemical kinetics of solutions were observed. There are three main objectives of this experiment. First is to
explain the kinetics of I- and S203. Second is to use the initial rate method to determine the rate law of the reaction.
And last but not the least; to determine the effects of temperature and catalysts on the solution reaction.


INTRODUCTION:

When we talk about chemical reactions, we should
not only concern ourselves about the amount of
products and reactants, but also to the dynamic
aspects of chemical change like the rate of reaction,
how far will the reaction proceed, and the energy
released or absorbed by the reaction.

In this experiment we are presented with 5 solutions
with the same kind of reactants and products but with
differing concentrations, temperature, and external
factors (i.e. presence of catalyst). Using I2 and S208
2-
as the reactants for the experiment, and the starch
solution as the indicator of the completeness of the
direction of solution, we are able to obtain the time
needed for the solution to complete its reaction.

There were a total of eight different runs of the
solutions of 0.2 M K1, 0.2 M KCl, 0.1 M K2S2O8 , 0.1
M K2S2O8, and 4mM Na2S2O3. All of these
aqueous solutions were poured in a single
beaker after the few drops of starch were added.
The timing of the reaction was started as soon as
the contents were poured together.





The purpose of the starch was to detect the formation
of Iodine. The solutions reaction endpoint is when the
solution instantaneously turns bluish, black. The
changing of the color of the solution was due to the
reaction of starch and Iodine.


After the collected data of reaction time for each run,
it is necessary to solve the effect of the concentration
of reactants. By using the rate law of the chemical
reactions of the solution, we can determine the
relationship of concentrations of reactants to the rate
of reactions. It is only necessary for us to take
account for the concentrations of the reactants and
not the products because we observe the reaction
rate under conditions wherein the reverse reaction
does not contribute to the overall rate. (Zumdahl,
548).

The equation for the rate law is given as:

rate = k [A]
m
[B]
n
(Eqtn.1)

Wherein k is the rate constant, m and n are the orders
of the reactants. To determine the value of k, one
must balance the stoichiometric equation of the
reaction:

2I
-
(aq) + S2O8
2-
(aq) I2 (aq) + 2SO4
2-
(aq) (eqtn3)

This reaction (eqtn 4) includes the oxidation of I2 (aq)
to 2I
-
(aq) through 2S2O3
2-
(persulfate) is very slow.
But due to the presence of S4O6
2-
,(thiosulfate) the
reaction becomes more spontaneous by being faster
and more thorough.

I2 (aq) + 2S2O3
2-
(aq) 2I
-
(aq) + S4O6
2-
(aq) (Eqtn
4)

By observing the stoichiometric ratios of thiosulfate
and iodide, we infer that the change in thiosulfate
concentration is double that of iodide. This
relationship will help us determine the rate of reaction.

Meanwhile, n and m, should be calculated by the use
of experimental data. After getting the rate of reaction
and the concentration of reactants, comparison of
both quantities can give us both m and n. Always be
aware that n does not rely on the balanced equation
of the reaction.

To calculate the effect of temperature on chemical
kinetics, we exposed two runs of solution 2 to warm
and cold baths individually. By using temperature and
time, we can calculate for the activation energy (Ea )of
the reaction. Activation energy is the minimum energy
with which molecules must collide to react.
(Silberberg, G-1).

And lastly the presence of catalyst in chemical
reaction and its relation to reaction rate and activation
energy was also computed.

Figure 1: Effect of Catalyst to the Activation Energy in
a Reaction


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1: Computed Concentrations of Reactants and
Reaction Rate
Solutio
ns
[S2O8
2-
] [I
-
] [S2O3
2-
] Time,
s
Rate,
M/s
1 0.00050 0.002 0.00002 425 2.355
x10
-8
2 0.00050 0.00100 0.00002 817 1.225
x10
-8

3 0.00050 0.00050 0.00002 1658 6.05x
10
-9

4 0.00075 0.00100 0.00002 513 1.945
x10
-8

5 0.00100 0.00100 0.00002 260 4.8x1
0
-8



As I have stated in the introduction, the way to
calculate rate from the initial concentration is through
the comparison of stoichiometric ratios between I2
and thiosulfate. (Eqtn4)

Therefore,
Rate=

.

After determining the rate of reaction, we can now
compute for the rate law.

rate = k [A]
m
[B]
n
(Eqtn.1)

By comparing similar concentration of a particular
reactant and equating it to the reaction rate, one can
get the exponent n of the other reactant. For example:

=1.92=[2]
n
n=1 for [I
-
]

Computing the exponent for S2O8
2-
as well will give us
also 1. [S2O3
2-
] has no effect on the reaction,
therefore its n=0.

This means that both [I
-
] and [S2O8
2-
] have a direct
proportional relationship to the rate law. Dividing the
reactants by 2 would also divide the rate law by 2.

After obtaining the orders of the reactants, we could
now solve for the reaction constant (k). Equating all
values of rates and concentrations and their
respective orders, we could get k by dividing rate by
reactant concentrations.

By averaging the 5 slightly different ks, we obtained
k=0.0292.

By using solution 1 as an example, we can rewrite the
rate law as:
2.355x10
-8
=[0.00050][0.002]0.0292

We can also show the relationship of [S2O8
2-
] to the
reaction rate by constructing a line graph ln rate vs ln
[S2O8
2-
] for soln 2,4,5 wherein I- is constant.



Due to the larger value for


Due to the larger value of ln [S2O8
2-
], the graph looks
dented, but the overall trend was positive. Thence, [S-
2O8
2-
] and reaction rate are directly proportional.

Lets now look at the graphical representation of
effects of [I
-
] to reaction rate.


Again, the graph shows us that as long as [I
-
] is
increasing, reaction rate will increase.

A graph of the line of the relationship of [S2O8
2-
] and
the rate of reaction can be expressed in the second
order equation of the solution which is
1/[A] = kt + 1/[Ao]
Wherein, y=1/[A], mx or slope=kt and y intercept as
1/[Ao].

Table 2: Effect of Temperature on Reaction Rate
Solution 2 Temperature,
K
Rate K
Run 1 301.15 1.225x10
-8
0.0292
Run 2 315.15 3.90x10
-8
0.078
Run 3 340.15 2.33x10
-7
0.466

The computation for k and reaction rate will be the
same as the procedure in the previous solutions.

The striking figure in table 2 is how drastically the
reaction rate increased as the temperature increase.
This is due to the greater molecular kinetic energy
that causes more collisions, and therefore, possibly
more reactions. (Clungston, 270)

We can also observe that k increases as temperature
increases. This phenomenon can be explained by the
Arrhenius equation.

k=A*e
(-Ea/R*T)
(eqtn no. 5)

where k is the rate constant, Ea is the activation
energy, R is the universal gas constant = 8.314
J/mol*K, T is the temperature in Kelvin and A is the
Arrhenius constant.

We can compute for the Ea, we can have a linear
equation that will show us the graph with respect to ln
k:
ln k = - Ea/(R*T) + A (eqtn no.6)
-18.5
-18
-17.5
-17
-16.5
-8 -7.5 -7 -6.5
ln Reaction Rate vs ln
[S
2
O
8
2-
]
ln Reaction
Rate
-19
-18.5
-18
-17.5
-17
-10 -5 0
ln Rate vs ln [I-]
ln Rate vs
ln [I-]

,wherein lnk/1/T will be our slope.


Slope=1.092x10-3

Bear in mind that slope also =-Ea/R

Therefore, Ea= 9.08x10
-3
.KJ
Arhennius constant=0.041 by using eqtn no.5, and
substituting all values.

The activation energy does not change with
temperature, but rather it appears as the slope of the
line. In connection, the rate constant increases
exponentially when the activation energy decreases.
The reaction would proceed faster with a smaller
activation energy to conquer. (Chemwiki)

The last set-up to be performed was that of the
catalyst. In this particular experiment Copper (III)
Sulfate was used as the catalyst.

The computation of the rate constant of set 4 is
different because of its different rate law:

Rate = k[S2O8
2-
][I
-
][CuSO4]
x

But remember that we can always use equation no. 5
or 6 to calculate for k. Plugging in the values, the k for
Set 4 with catalyst is 0.045 M
-1
s
-1.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Reaction rate, in general favours; a. Reactants with
higher concentration, b. High temperature (more
kinetic energy), and c. Presence of catalyst.

In terms of application, we can observe these
conclusions especially in nature and industry. Several
products like the production of fertilizer grade
ammonia requires high temperature to be
commercially feasible (Haber process). And without
iron oxide which speeds up the reaction, a catalyst,
more cost and higher temperatures will be needed to
supply the ammonia for agricultural use.

Some of the graphs in this report looks weird because
of several different uncertainties or mistakes during
the experiment. Most prominent of these uncertainty
was the inaccurate concentration of the reactants.
This is due mainly to human error, or sometimes due
to imprecise laboratory equipment. There was also an
uncertainty about the end time of reaction because
some solutions take too slow or too fast to react,

More trials would have probably lessen errors.

REFERENCES
Clungston, M.J., Flemming, R., 2000, Advanced
Chemistry, Oxford University Press, 270
Silberberg, Martin, 2013, Principles of General
Chemistry, McGraw Hill, G-1
Zumdahl S., Zumdahl S, 2014, Chemistry 9
th
Ed.,
Cengage Learning 557-570
del Mundo, G., Kareem, M., etc., Arrhenius Equation.
Chemwiki. Retrieved January 4, 2012, from
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Kinet
ics/Reaction_Rates/Temperature_Dependence_of_R
eaction_Rates/Arrhenius_Equation
Skoog, West, Holler, Crouch, 2004, Fundamentals of
Analytical Chemistry, Thomson Brooks Cole
0
0.5
1
-4 -2 0
ln k vs. 1/T
ln k vs. 1/T