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Answers to Topic 1 Test yourself questions

1 a) Concentrated hydrochloric acid reacts 4 a) 2N2O5(g) → 4NO2(g) + O2(g)
much faster with marble chips than b) 2 mol of NO2 is formed from 1 mol of
dilute hydrochloric acid. N2O5;
b) Any reaction involving gases such as 7.0 × 10−4 mol dm−3 s−1
the manufacture of ammonia from 5 a) Collect the gas in a graduated
nitrogen and hydrogen. syringe.
c) Magnesium powder reacts much b) Remove samples at intervals, stop
faster with dilute hydrochloric acid the reaction by cooling and then
than magnesium ribbon. titrate against alkali the acid
d) Catalytic converters are only effective produced by the reaction.
in speeding up the reactions which c) Measure the conductivity of the
remove pollutants from car exhausts solution to follow the increase in the
once they are hot. concentration of ions.
e) A platinum–rhodium alloy catalyses d) Carry out the reaction in a flask, with
the oxidation of ammonia to nitrogen a loose plug of cotton wool in its
oxide. neck, on a balance and record the
2 a) In a more concentrated solution there loss in mass at regular intervals.
are more collisions per second 6 Rate = k[peroxide]
between reactants and so an rate
k=
increased rate of reaction. [peroxide]
b) Increasing the pressure forces the 7.4×10−6 mol dm−3 s−1
molecules closer together and =
0.02mol dm−3
increases the rate of collisions which
= 3.7 × 10−4 s−1
lead to reaction.
7 Rate = k[ester][OH−]
c) When a solid reacts with a liquid or rate
gas the reaction takes place on the k=
[ester][OH − ]
interface where the reactants meet.
The larger the surface, the greater 0.00069mol dm−3 s−1
=
the area open to reaction. 0.05mol dm−3 × 0.10mol dm−3
d) At a higher temperature the Maxwell– = 0.138 dm3 mol−1 s−1
Boltzmann distribution shifts to the 8 a) The graph is a straight line so the
right so the proportion of molecules reaction is first order with respect to
with energy greater than the bromine.
activation energy increases, and so b) i) Half-lives are all close to 200 s
more collisions which are more wherever they are read from the
energetic can lead to reaction. graph.
e) A catalyst provides an alternative ii) This is consistent with the answer
reaction pathway with a lower to a). The half-life for a first-order
activation energy. With a lower process is independent of the
activation energy there are more starting concentration.
collisions with enough energy to lead 9 For a first-order reaction the gradient
to reaction. of the
rate–concentration graph gives the
(0.55− 0.42)mol dm3
3 = 0.0087 mol  rate constant.
15s
dm−3 s−1 10 a) Rate = k[RBr][OH−]

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b) Second order
c) Units: dm3 mol−1 s−1
11 a) Graph similar to Figure 1.13.
b) 2NH3(g) → N2(g) + 3H2(g)
Rate = k
12 a) Rate = k[RBr][OH−]
rate
b) k =
[RBr][OH − ]

1.36mol dm−3 s−1

=
0.02mol dm−3 × 0.02mol dm−3
= 3400 dm3 mol−1 s−1
13 a) Rate = k[R´Br]
rate 40.40mol dm−3 s−1
b) k = [R´Br] =
0.02mol dm−3
= 2020 s−1
14 a) 2H2(g) + 2NO(g) → N2(g) + 2H2O(g)
b) Rate = k[H2(g)][NO(g)]2

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15 Reaction between molecules involve
the breaking of covalent bonds. The
range of activation energies roughly
corresponds to the range of values for
covalent bond energies.
16 a) These are the units for a first-order
reaction.
b) As the value of k gets larger, the
rate gets faster for a given
concentration of the reactant. So the
reaction speeds up as the
temperature rises.
c) The 10 degree rise from 298 K to
308 K brings about a 5-fold increase
in rate. The 20 degree rise from 278  travel at 50 mph along a
K to 298 K brings about just over a
25-fold increase in rate.
17 a) Ea/RT becomes smaller in magnitude
as T rises. Because of the negative
sign in the equation, this means that
ln k becomes more positive. So k
gets larger as T rises and the rate is
faster.
b) The larger the activation energy the
larger the value of Ea/RT and so the
smaller the magnitude of ln k. Hence
k gets smaller and the rate less.
18 ln (4.93 × 10−4) = constant −
Ea
8.314× 295
ln (1.40 × 10−3) = constant −
Ea
8.314×305
Subtract and solve for Ea
Ea = 78 kJ mol−1
19 a) Heterogeneous b) homogeneous
c) heterogeneous d)
heterogeneous
20 In the presence of a catalyst, the
reaction pathway has an activation
energy which is much lower than when
there is no catalyst. Tungsten metal
adsorbs hydrogen into the upper layers
of the crystal structure as single atoms.
So the catalyst breaks the bonds
between the atoms in one of the
© G. Hill and A. Hunt 2009 Edexcel Chemistry for A2
reactants. The pathway with a lower
activation energy allows the reaction to
proceed much faster.
21 There are several steps to picking up a
meal from a canteen counter. The rate
at which the queue moves can be
slowed down if there is a rate-
determining step such as waiting for a
toaster to make pieces of toast or for a
coffee machine to deliver cups of
coffee.
Similarly the flow of traffic along a
motorway slows down overall if there
are lane closures and the traffic has to
coned-off section of the road.
22 In the first step a strong covalent bond
has to break. In the second step two
oppositely charged ions, which attract
each other, come together to form a
bond.
23 a) NO2(g) + CO(g) → NO(g) + CO2(g)
b) Rate = k[NO2(g)]2
c) Zero order
24 The intermediate has a double bond as
in an alkene, and an –OH group as in
an alcohol. Hence it is called an enol.
25 a) Rate = k[CH3COCH3][H+]
b) Hydrogen ions act as the catalyst for
the reaction. They are not used up in
the reaction and so do not appear in
the balanced equation. However,
hydrogen ions are involved in the
rate-determining step so that the
concentration of hydrogen ions
affects the rate of reaction. As a
result, the concentration of
hydrogen ions appears in the rate
equation.
26 Hydrogen ions are used to form the
enol intermediate in steps 1 and 2 but
then as many hydrogen ions are
released at the end of step 2.
27 In both reactions the rate is
determined by the rate of formation of
the enol, which depends on the
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concentrations of propanone and react very quickly with the enol

hydrogen ions. Bromine or iodine then intermediate as soon as it is formed.

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