Daniel Manwiller

Advanced Chemistry
2/18/16

Reaction Rate Lab

Introduction:
Chemical reactions vary greatly in the speed at which they occur. Some are
essentially instantaneous, while others may take years to reach equilibrium. The
Reaction Rate for a given chemical reaction is the measure of the change in
concentration of the reactants or the change in concentration of the products per
unit time. - All measurements of rate are defined as the change in some variable
divided by the change in time. To many people the most common form of a rate
measurement is miles per hour, which is the change in distance (miles) divided by
the change in time (hours). In this lab the rate of reaction is the measurement to be
determined. This means that the variable to be measured is the change in
concentration of the products, which is measured in molarity (moles per liter).
This experiment will deal with a iodine - hydrogen peroxide "clock"
reaction. The main equation for the reaction is:
H2O2(aq) + 2I- (aq) + 2H+ (aq) <===> I2(aq) + 2H2O(l)
where hydrogen peroxide reacts with iodine ions and hydrogen ions in solution to
produce water and free iodine. The source of the I- is a solution of KI and the H+
comes from an added acetic acid/acetate buffer. This is a reaction that reaches
equilibrium because of the reverse reaction that is triggered as I2 is produced. Thus
if we are to determine the reaction rate of the forward reaction only, the reverse
reaction must be suppressed. The addition of Na2S2O3 will cause such a
suppression. This equation shows the effect of the addition of Na2S2O3:
2S2O3-2(aq) + I2(aq) ----> S2O3-2(aq) + 2 I- (aq)
As long as S2O3-2 is available the reverse reaction does not occur. When the S2O3-2
is finally used up, free iodine floods into the solution. This point can be detected if
we add starch to our solution since starch reacts with free iodine to produce a dark
purple black complex. We now have a method to time how long it takes to react the
Na2S2O3 that was present in our original solution. By changing the initial
concentrations of KI and H2O2 and timing the reaction, we can eventually calculate
the rate constant of the forward reaction using the equation:

k = Rate / [I-]A [H2O2]B

where k is the rate constant and A & B are rate orders. These rate orders can be
calculated experimentally by graphing the log10 of the concentration of the reactant
vs. the rate. The slope of this graph is the rate order for that reactant. These slopes
will be experimental data and will have to be rounded to the nearest whole number.
The lab is setup to perform 5 trials with differing amounts of KI and H2O2,
and to calculate the k value for each of the trials.
The purpose of this lab was to experimentally determine the rate law of the
reaction [H2O2(aq) + 2I- (aq) + 2H+ (aq) <===> I2(aq) + 2H2O(l)], and from that
rate law to experimentally determine the average k value for this reaction.
Therefore it was hypothesized that If the amounts of each reactant in each
trial are recorded and the rate order for each reactant can be determined, then the
k values for each trial may be calculated, and from the average k value may be
determined.

Materials:

Goggles
4 Burettes (Buffer, KI, Na2S2O3, and H2O2)
Graduated Cylinder
Beaker
Dropper of Starch Solution
Distilled Water

Method:
(Lab Steps)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Wear goggles.
Dispense 25 mL of Buffer into the beaker.
Dispense 8 mL of KI into the beaker.
Dispense 8 mL of Na2S2O3 into the beaker.
Dispense 2 mL of starch into the beaker.
Add 415 mL of water to the beaker.
Measure out 25 mL of H2O2 into the graduated cylinder.
Add the H2O2 to the beaker and immediately start timing.

9. Watch carefully, and record the time as soon as the beaker starts to
turn purple.
10. Repeat steps 2-9 for trials 2-5, amounts of each reactant are based on
the trial volumes table below.
Trial Volumes Table
0.300 M

0.020 M

0.100 M

Trial

Buffer

KI

Na2S2O3

Starch

Water

H2O2

25 mL

8.0 mL

25 mL

2 mL

415 mL

25 mL

25 mL

15 mL

25 mL

2 mL

408 mL

25 mL

25 mL

25 mL

25 mL

2 mL

398 mL

25 mL

25 mL

25 mL

25 mL

2 mL

373 mL

50 mL

25 mL

25 mL

25 mL

2 mL

323 mL

100 mL

(Calculation Steps)
1. Calculate the moles of KI used for each trial. Molarity is 0.300,
(mol = M * L). Convert mL of solution to L of solution.
2. Calculate the Molarity of KI used within each trial. Each trial has a
volume of 0.500 L. (M = mol / L).
3. Calculate the moles used and the Molarity for H2O2 used in each trial.
Follow the same method used for the KI but substitute 0.100 M for the stock
concentration for H2O2. In these reactions you are actually recording the time
it takes to consume the Na2S2O3 used in each trial.
4. 25.0 mL of Na2S2O3 was used for each run. This represents 0.0005
mol for each trial. Since one mol of H2O2 reacts with 2 moles of Na2S2O3,
only 0.00025 moles of H2O2 was consumed. By equating these two
compounds on a 2:1 ratio, we have indirectly determined the mol of H2O2. If
we view this from a concentration basis, the Molarity of H2O2 consumed was
0.00050 M. Record this Molarity value for H2O2, it will be needed later.

5. Calculate the rate of reaction for each trial. (Rate = - [H2O2] /

time). H2O2 is the 0.00050 M calculated above. Note that the ends up
positive with the units M/s and is always based on the disappearance of
[H2O2].
6. Calculate the log10 of the rate for each trial.
7. Calculate the log10 of the [KI] for each trial.
8. Calculate the log10 of the [H2O2] for each trial. In this case, we are
interested in the initial concentration of H2O2, calculated in step 3.
9. Construct two graphs. Graph A is (log ([KI]) vs. log(Rate)), and
graph B is (log ([H2O2]) vs. log(Rate)). Graph A will use the data from
trials 1, 2, and 3, while graph B will use the data from trials 3, 4, and 5.
These values were calculated in steps 6-8. Once the graphs are done
calculate the slope of the line for each. The slope of graph A represents the
rate order for [KI], while the slope of graph B represents the rate order for
[H2O2]. Round these values off to the nearest whole number.
10. Calculate the rate constant k for each trial. (k = Rate /
[KI]A[H2O2]B). Then calculate the average k for all 5 trials.

Results:

All of the calculations from the lab are shown in the table below.

From this table it can be observed that the rate orders for [KI] and [H2O2]
were determined to be equal to 1. This was determined by calculating the slope of
the graph of graph A (log ([KI]) vs. log(Rate)) and graph B (log ([H2O2]) vs.
log(Rate)). This was calculated by dividing the change in rate by the change in
log10 concentration of each reaction. KI = (6.414 - 5.861) / (2.319 - 1.824) = 1.12 ~
1. H2O2 = (5.861 - 5.301) / ( 2.301 - 1.699) = 0.930 ~ 1. The graphs of these
calculations are shown below.
Each k value was calculated using the equation (k = Rate / [KI]A[H2O2]B).
Since A and B simply equal 1 the equation can be written as k = Rate / [KI][H2O2].
This means that k1 = (3.855 x 10-7) / (0.00480)(0.00500) = 0.0161.
k2 = (7.463 x 10 -7) / (0.00900)(0.00500) = 0.0166. k3 = (1.377 x 10-6) /
(0.0150)(0.00500) = 0.01836. k4 = (2.463 x 10-6) / (0.0150)(0.0100) = 0.01642.
k5 = (5.000 x 10-6) / (0.0150)(0.0200) = 0.0166.

From these k values the average k value may be calculated by (0.0161 +

0.0166 + 0.01836 + 0.01642 + 0.0166) / (5) = 0.0168. This is the average k value
for the rate law (Rate = k[KI][H2O2]).

Discussion:

The hypothesis was stated as, If the amounts of each reactant in each trial
are recorded and the rate order for each reactant can be determined, then the k
values for each trial may be calculated, and from the average k value may be
determined. The amounts of each reactant used in each trial are recorded in the
reaction rates table, and the rate orders for both [KI] and [H2O2] were determined
to be 1. Therefore based on these calculations the value of k was able to be
calculated from the equation, Rate = k[KI][H2O2]. The average of the k values
from the 5 trials was then taken and found to equal 0.0168. Therefore based on
these calculations the hypothesis was proved to be correct. The fact that the rate
orders of all the reactants were determined and the average k value was found
fulfills the stated purpose of this lab.
Possible errors with this lab may include misreading of measurements, any
variety of lab accidents, environmental effects on the results, any mistakes in
calculation, and many other possible erroneous actions.
The following is a link to a video of a similar setup of the same lab, this
video is also listed as one of the sources. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=C5tOEBmBAHg

Sources:
1. Chemistry - The Central Science (11 Edition). Brown, LeMay,
Bursten, Murphy.
2. http://eduweblabs.com/Database/Lab_Folders2/Rate/Rate.html virtual
lab setup, and lab description.
3. http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Core/Physical_Chemistry/Kinetics/React
ion_Rates/Reaction_Rate reaction rate definition and explanation.
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5tOEBmBAHg Resource video
and lab results example.