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Rates of reaction
Recap of previous knowledge
-

State the conditions for the Haber process and explain why these conditions are a compromise
between yield and rate

Define an acid and a base according to Brnsted-Lowry theory and the term conjugate

Rates of reaction
Reaction kinetics is the study of rates of chemical reactions. Some reactions are very fast
e.g. burning a piece of paper while others are very slow e.g. rusting of iron.
Rate of reaction is defined as

change in amount of reactants or products

change in time

A balanced chemical equation does not give an information about the rate of a reaction. Only
a particular means devised to monitor the reaction can help to determine how fast or how
slow a reaction is.
Measuring rate of reaction
The rate of reaction can be found by measuring certain quantities at regular time intervals,
when the chemical reaction is in progress. A reaction that releases a gas such as that
between an acid and a carbonate can be monitored by following change in mass of reaction
mixture or change in volume of gas produced at regular intervals. The decrease in mass is
due to the loss of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
CaCO3(s) + 2HCl(aq) CaCl2(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l).
Cotton wool
reaction
mixture
10.05g

CHANGE IN MASS

sensitive
balance

CHANGE IN VOLUME OF GAS

The collison theory

The effect of factors such as concentration, surface area, temperature and catalyst on the rate of a
reaction all depend on the collision theory.
The collision theory is basically made up of the three statements below: that is for a reaction to occur:
- There should be collisions between the particles of reactants
- These collisions should be energetic enough
- They should occur with the right orientation of molecules
The particles cited above could be atoms, ions or melecules. Collisions are unsuccessful if the colliding
particles do not have enough energy or the right orientation. In this case, the particles simply bounce
off after collision and no reaction takes place. The right energy for a successful collision is called
activation energy.
Definition: Activation Energy is the minimum energy that colliding particles must possess for a
successful collision to take place.
According to the collision theory, a reaction will be faster if:
- The reacting particles collide more often
- The proportion of particles with energy greater or equal activation energy increases
The particles cited above could be atoms, ions or melecules.

Exercise: Check-up 1, page 156

The effect of change in concentration on the rate of a reaction
Increasing the concentration of reactants, rate of reaction increases. This is because increasing
concentration means there are more solute particles per unit volume of the solution and their random

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motion in solution results to more more frequent collisions between reacting particles. The greater the
number of effective collisions, the faster the reaction.
From the ideal gas equation (PV = nRT), pressure is directly proportion to the concentration of a gas at
constant temperature. Thus increasing the pressure of gaseous reactants is the same as increasing the
concentration of reactants in solution.
The effect of change in temperature on the rate of a reaction
Increasing the temperature, increases rate of a reaction. This is because with increase in temperature
means that particles absorb energy, move faster with enough activation energy and collide more
often effectively per second. This results to an increase in rate of reaction. Rate of reaction doubles
with every 10oC increase in temperature. The Boltzmann distribution below can be used to explain the
effect of increase in temperature on the rate of reaction.
The shaded area in each curve
represents the proportion of
reacting particles in the sample
that can bring about a chemical
reaction when they collide
because they have energy greater
or equal to activation energy.

Definition: The Boltzmann distribution is a graph showing the distribution of energies of the
particles in a sample at a given temperature.
Information presented by the Boltzmann distribution
-

The area under the curve represents the number of

molecules in the system.
There is no molecule in the system with zero energy

Few molecules in the system have low energy

Many molecules in the system have average energies
Few molecules in the system have high energies

Catalysis
Definition: A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction but remains
chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction. Exercise: Check-up 2, page 156 and check-up 3 page 157.
A catalyst increases the rate of a chemical
reaction by providing a new reaction pathway
with a lower activation energy through which
reactants are converted to products. The
decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is
very slow at room temperature but very fast in
the presence of manganese dioxide (MnO2)
catalyst.
Looking at the Boltzmann distribution on the left above, a catalyst increases the proportion of particles
in the reaction mixture with the right energy to react but does not affect the shape of the curve.
Exercise: Check-up 4, page 158.

Enzymes
Biological catalysts are called enzymes. Enzymes speed up rate of reactions in plants and animals. The
lock and key hypothesis is used to explain how enzymes work.
Characteristics of enzymes:
- They are very specific. One enzyme catalyse one type of reaction. The substrate is the molecule
that fits on the active site of the enzyme.
- Enzymes are sensitive to temperature. They work best at 40 oC. Too high or too low
temperatures destroy (denature) enzymes since they proteins in nature.
- Enzymes are sensitive to pH. They function within narrow range of pH. Industrial uses of
enzymes:
Advantages of enzymes over tranditional catalysts
Enzymes
are specific. Thus umwanted side reactions reduced.
Assignment:
Enymes
operate
at low temperatures. This reduces cost of
End of Chap page 2 page 159
energy operating at high temperatures and pressure.