CHM 476 – PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

EXPERIMENT NUMBER & : EXPERIMENT 3: KINETICS - FACTORS AFFECTING

TITLE RATES OF REACTION

GROUP : AS2221A

NAME : MUHAMMAD HAZWAN HAMIM BIN SHAHFAR AMIL

(2020997085)

LECTURER’S NAME : MR. MUHAMMAD NASRI BIN ABDUL RAHMAN

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 14/04/2020

DATE OF SUBMISSION : 28/04/2020

LABORATORY REPORT
EXPERIMENT 3: KINETICS - FACTORS AFFECTING RATES OF REACTION

1.0 OBJECTIVE

 To study the factors affecting rates of reaction

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Chemical kinetics is the area of chemistry concerned with the speeds or rates at which
reactions occur. It can be measured by the rate of formation of the product or the rate of
decrease of the reactant via appearance of precipitate or colour change. There are essentially
three variables that affect the rate of a chemical reaction; concentration of reactants, presence
of catalyst and temperature. Usually the more concentrated the solutions of one or more
reactants, the faster the reaction. A catalyst increases the rate of reaction without being
consumed in the reaction itself. As the temperature increases, the rate of reaction usually
increases. The effect of concentration on the rate of reaction is studied using the reaction
between hydrogen peroxide, H2O2and potassium iodide, KI. The equation for the reaction is:

H2O2+ KI + 2H+ 2H2O + I2 (1)

I2+ 2S2O32- 2I-+ 2S4O62- (2)

Sodium thiosulphate and starch are added to the reaction mixture; as soon as the I2
produced has used up all the thiosulphate, it will react with the starch to give a blue black
colour. By keeping the concentration of H2O2 constant but changing the concentration of KI,
the rate is determined by the time taken for the formation of the blue-black colour. For the
effect of temperature and catalyst on the rate of reaction, we will study the reaction of oxalic
acid, H2C2O4 with acidified potassium permanganate, KMnO4. Manganese sulphate,
MnSO4 will be used as a catalyst. The rate of reaction is measured by the time for the dark
purple colour of KMnO4 to disappear. The equation for the reaction is
 2MnO4-+ 5C2O42-+ 16H+ 2Mn2++ 10CO2+ 8H2O (3)

3.0 APPARATUS

 Stopwatch.
 Hot water bath.
 Test tubes.
 10cm3 measuring cylinder.
 Dropper.
 50cm3 beaker.
 Conical flask.

4.0 CHEMICALS

 0.1M hydrogen peroxide, H2O2.

 0.1M potassium iodide, KI.
 2M sulphuric acid, H2SO4.
 0.01M potassium permanganate, KMnO4
 0.5M oxalic acid, H2C2O4.
 0.1M manganese sulphate, MnSO4.
 0.005M sodium thiosulphate, Na2S2O3.
 Starch solution.

5.0 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Wear appropriate protective equipment: goggles, lab coat and proper shoes.

6.0 PROCEDURE
A. Effect of Concentration

1. 10cm3 of KI and 10cm3 of H2SO4 was added into a conical flask, followed by
10cm3 of Na2S2O3 and three drops of starch solution.
2. 10cm3 of H2O2 was measured and quickly poured into the conical flask containing
KI, H2SO4, Na2S2O3 and starch. The mixture was shaken and immediately started
the stopwatch. As the blue-black colour appears, the stopwatch was immediately
stopped. The time for the appearance of the blue-black colour was recorded.
3. Steps (1) and Steps (2) was repeated by diluting with 2cm3, 4cm3, 6cm3 and 8cm3 of
water to the first beaker, while the volume of KI was reduced to maintain a volume of
30cm3 solution (refer table from datasheet experiment 3) before adding H2O2.

B. Effect of temperature

1. 3cm3 of KMnO4 and 3cm3 of H2SO4 was measured into a clean test tube.
2. 3cm3 of oxalic acid was measured into another test tube and the oxalic acid was
quickly added to the first test tube. The mixture was shaken and the stopwatch was
immediately started. The time for the dark purple colour of KMnO4 to disappear was
recorded.
3. Steps (1) and Steps (2) was repeated but at different temperature (40ºC, 50ºC and
60ºC). The test tubes was been immersed in hot water bath before mixing the solution
until the solutions are at the required temperature.

C. Effect of presence of catalyst

Steps (1) and Steps (2) in B was repeated but this time three drops of MnSO4 was
added to the first test tube before adding oxalic acid.
7.0 DATA AND RESULTS

Room Temperature (ºC) 27.0

Experiment Reaction Mixture Time (sec)

(A) In conical flask In

beaker
KI H2O H2SO4 Na2S2O Starch H2O2
(cm3) (cm3) (cm3) 3 (drops) (cm3)
(cm3)
1. 10 0 10 10 3 10 9.6

2. 8 2 10 10 3 10 12.9

3. 6 4 10 10 3 10 17.3

4. 4 6 10 10 3 10 25.0

5. 2 8 10 10 3 10 49.0

(B) Test Tube 1 Test Tube 2

KMnO4 H2SO4 H2C2O4
Temperature Time (sec)
(cm3) (cm3) (cm3)
(Temp.)(ºC)
1. 3 3 3 Room Temp. 133
2. 3 3 3 60 20
3. 3 3 3 50 33
4. 3 3 3 40 45
(C) Test Tube 1 Test Tube 2
Temperature Time (sec)
KMnO4 H2SO4 MnSO4 H2C2O4
(Temp.)(ºC)
(cm3) (cm3) (cm3) (cm3)
1. 3 3 3 3 Room 31.0
Temp.

8.0 DISCUSSION

The experiments are conducted based on the rate law, Rate = k [I-]^n[S4O6^2-]^m
where k is the ratio constant while n and m are the reaction orders of I- and S4O6^2-
respectively. As reaction orders, n and m are defined as the power to which the concentration
of reactants is raised to and must be determine experimentally. n and m are experimentally
determined to be 1. This means that the reaction is first order with respect to [I-] and first
order with respect to [S2O8^2-]. The overall order of reaction is 2. In the study of effect of
concentration in the rate of reaction, it was found that when increasing the concentration of
reactant, the reaction time getting slower thus increasing the rate.

The collision theory explains the phenomenon by stating that molecules must collide
in the right orientation and possess a certain minimum kinetic energy, called the activation
energy to initiate the chemical reaction. An increase in the concentration of reactants leads to
an increase in the number of reactant molecules having energy equal or greater than the
activation energy. Hence, increase the collision frequency. The increase in the effective
collision leads to an increase in the reaction rate.

Based on the results of this experiment, it show that the rate of reaction increases as
temperature increases. Using the Arrhenius equation,

k = Ae^(-Ea/RT)
the activation energy, Ea can be determined by keeping the concentration of all the reactants
constant while varying the temperature for each experiment. According the Arrhenius
equation, a slight deviation in temperature will change the reaction rate significantly. A slight
increase in temperature increases the colliding particles with activation energy and
consequently, reaction rates significantly. So, since slight deviations in temperature may
affect reaction rates significantly, the temperature at which the experiment was carried out
must be kept constant. The conical flasks were placed in an ice bath to maintain the reaction
temperature. There were several changeability above and below the desired temperatures.
Moreover, the time taken for the blue solution to turn colourless is relatively longer for the
lower temperatures which creates a greater possibility for error. Keeping the temperature
constant can be done by conducting experiments in hot plate.

Based on the results of this experiment, it also shows that the rate of reaction also
effected by presence of the catalysts. This could be seen when we comparing the time taken
between Experiment B no 1 and Experiment C. Both were using same solution and in room
temperature but for experiment C, three drops of MnSO4 was added in the solution and act as
a catalyst. Different time taken was recorded where in Experiment C, the time taken was
faster which was 31.0 seconds comparing with experiment B no 1 which is 133 seconds. A
substance that speed up reaction without itself being chemically changed or consumed in the
process. Catalysts provide an alternative pathway from reactants to products Catalyst lowers
the activation energy of a reaction. So catalysed reaction has much lower activation energy
than un catalysed one. Therefore the reaction is faster with catalyst.

During the experiment, there were many factors that may effects the results. Reactants
were poured imprecisely into the conical flask. There may be leftover reactants in the
measuring cylinder and some reactants may stain the sides of the conical flask during the
addition. This reduces the concentration of the reactants in the conical flask. Pipetting the
reactants into the conical flask would ensure that the reactants are added the required
quantities and the ultimate results are accurate. There is an inaccuracy as the stopwatch was
stopped only when a random colour intensity was observed. All glassware used in this
experiment must be keep clean and dry to prevent contamination. The solutions should be
poured into a small beaker before we measured the volume. The overall volume of the
solution was also kept constant at 50 mL by adding distilled water to standardize the
conditions of the reaction environment, thus increasing the accuracy.

9.0 QUESTIONS

1. Define activation energy. What role does activation energy play in chemical kinetics?
The minimum energy required by the reactant to form an activated complex in the
transition state and the role does activation energy plays as the energy barrier between
reactants and products.

2. Write the Arrhenius equation and define all terms.

k = Ae^(-Ea/RT)
k = Rate constant or rate or speed
A = Frequency factor
Ea = Activation energy
R = Gas constant (8.314 J/molK)
T = Temperature in K

3. Use the Arrhenius equation to show why the rate constant of reaction
a) Decreases with increasing activation energy
k = Ae ^ (- Ea/RT)
Thus, if Ea increases, the value of denominator increases, so the value of k
decreases
 b) Increases with increasing temperature
k = Ae ^ (- Ea/RT)
Thus, if T increases, the value of - (Ea/RT) decreases, as a result, the value of
the denominator decreases. Consequently, the value of k increases.

4. Variation of the rate constant with temperature for the first-order reaction is given in
the following table. Determine graphically the activation energy for the reaction.

T (K) k(s-1)
298 1.74 x 10^(-5)
308 6.61 x 10^(-5)
318 2.51 x 10^(-4)
328 7.59 x 10^(-4)
338 2.40 x 10^(-3)

Rate Constant (ln k) VS Temperature 1/T(K)

0

-2
Slope = - Ea/R
Rate constant ln k

-4
T (K)
-6
Ea = - (Slope) x
0 k(s-1)
0 (R)
-8 0
-10 0
0
-12
Ea = -1.23 x 8.314
Temperature 1/T (K)
J/molK

Ea = - 10.23
kJ/mol
10.0 CONCLUSION

Based on this experiment, we can study many factors that affecting the rates of
reaction such as temperature, catalyst and concentration of the solutions. There are two more
factor that also can affect the rate of reaction which is the size of particles and the pressure
for gasses.

11.0 REFERENCES

1) Shaharudin, D. M. & Kantasamy, N. (2017). Introduction to Physical Chemistry.

Shah Alam. UiTM Press.

2) Hender, M. (2019). Use the arrhenius equation to show why the rate constant of a
reaction. Retrieved from : https://www.slader.com/discussion/question/use-the-
arrhenius-equation-to-show-why-the-rate-constant-of-a-reaction-a-decreases-with-
increasing-a/

3) CDLI. (2007). Factor affecting reaction rates. Retrieved from:

https://www.cdli.ca/sampleResources/chem3202/unit01_org01_ilo03/b_aactivity.html

4) Bosamia, S. (2018). Chemistry lab report. Retrieved from:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/247723623/chemistry-lab-report