RATES OF REACTION

CSEC Chemistry
Prepared by M. J. McNeil, MPhil.
Department of Continuing (Education) Studies
Portmore Community College
Main Campus

LECTURE OBJECTIVES I

WHAT DOES THE

RATE OF A REACTION MEAN?
What

is the rate of these reactions?

Chemical

reactions require varying lengths of time

for completion.

The

speed of different chemical reactions varies

hugely.

Some

reactions are very fast and others are very

slow.
Reaction

rate is the rate or speed at which products

are formed or reactants are consumed.

A reaction

rate depends on the characteristics of the

reactants and products and the conditions under
which the reaction is run.
3

slow

fast

very fast

CHEMICAL KINETICS
This is the area of chemistry concerned with the speeds, or rates, at which a
chemical reaction occurs and the path taken by the reaction.

time

WHY STUDY REACTION RATES?

By understanding how the rate of a reaction is affected by changing

conditions, one can learn the details of what is happening at the molecular
level.

The length of time it takes to bake chocolate chip cookies depends on the
rate at which baking soda (sodium bicarbonate or hydrogen carbonate)
decomposes at 177 oC.

Manufacture of Ammonia (Haber Process) - specific conditions

(temperature and pressure) to aid the reaction to proceed in a commercially
feasible length of time.
6

MEASURING RATES OF REACTION

or

Rate of reaction is a measured changed in the amount of a specific reactant

product as a function of time.
Rate =

measured change in a given property

time taken for change to occur

During any chemical reaction, it has been found that the concentration of reactants
decreases at the same rate as the concentration of the product
increases. However,
the change in concentration per unit time is sometimes challenging to measure directly.

Other property changes which are often used are:

(i)

volume of a gaseous product

(ii) colour intensity

(iii) amount of a precipitate formed
(iv) decrease in mass (if gas is liberated)
Measuring the rate of a reaction means measuring the change in the amount of a reactant or

WHY ARE SOME REACTIONS

FASTER THAN OTHERS?

Some people can run fast, others

run more slowly, and still others
do not run at all. Molecules are
the same; some are very reactive,
others react less rapidly, and still
others react very sluggishly.

The COLLISION
explains this.

THEORY

COLLISION THEORY OF REACTION

In order for a chemical reaction to occur, the
following THREE conditions MUST be
met:
(i) The particles of the reacting
substances must collide with each
other
to break old bonds in the
reactants, and
form new bonds in
the products.

The more collisions in a system, the

more likely combination of molecules
will happen.
9

COLLISION THEORY OF REACTION

In order to react the following conditions must
be met:
(ii) The colliding particles must produced
sufficient energy to break the old
bonds in
the reactants. This energy is termed the
activation energy*, (to be
discussed in
details later).
Not all collisions produce the required
energy, therefore not all collisions
results in
a reaction occurring.

10

COLLISION THEORY OF REACTION

In order to react the following conditions
must be met:
(iii) Reactant particles must collide with
the correct orientation so that the
energy produced by the collision can
be passed on to the bonds to be
broken.

11

FACTORS THAT AFFECT

REACTION RATES
Through extensive experiments, chemists have determined that the rate of a
reaction depends on six variables:

Concentration of reactants

Temperature

Catalyst

Surface Area (Particle Size)

Pressure
Light
LETS LOOK AT THEM IN DETAIL.
12

EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION ON
THE RATE OF A REACTION

More often than not, the rate of a reaction

increases when the concentration of a reactant
is increased and vice-versa.

Why increasing the concentration increases the

rate of reaction and vice-versa?

At a higher concentration, there are more

particles in the same amount of space. This
means that the particles are more likely to
react.

Hence, increasing the population of reactants

increases the likelihood of a successful
collision. The converse of this statement is also
true.

In some reactions, however, the rate is

unaffected by the concentration of a
particular reactant, as long as it is
present at some concentration.

lower concentration

higher concentration
13

INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF

CONCENTRATION ON REACTION RATE

Add the HCl to the Na2S2O3 in the flask.

Record the time taken for the X to disappear.
Repeat with different concentrations of Na2S2O3

14

The inverse the time (1/t) yields the rate of the reaction.

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF

CONCENTRATION ON RATE

HCl + Na2S2O3

NaCl + SO2 + H2O + S

The formation of a pale yellow (colloidal) precipitate of sulphur can be used to monitor the
progress of the reaction.
Please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4IZDPpN-bk toviewthisexpt.(7mins)
The rate of a chemical reaction is NOT affected by a change in volume of the reacting
15 solution
provided that the concentration remains the same.

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF

CONCENTRATION ON RATE

16

THE EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION ON RATE

Conclusion
?
R
A
T
E
1
Time

Rate is directly
proportional to
concentration
17

CONCENTRATION

MEASURING A REACTION RATE

Recall - measuring the rate of a reaction means measuring the
change in the amount of a reactant or the amount of a product.
What can be measured to calculate the rate of reaction
between magnesium and hydrochloric acid?
magnesium

hydrochloric
magnesium

acid
chloride

hydrogen

The amount of hydrochloric acid used up (cm3/min).

The amount of magnesium chloride produced (g/min).
The amount of hydrogen product (cm3/min).

19

SETTING UP THE RATES EXPERIMENT

What equipment is needed to investigate the rate of hydrogen evolved?
glass tube

conical
flask

rubber connecter

rubber bung
hydrochloric
acid
magnesium

gas syringe

hydrogen produced (cm3)

DETERMINING REACTION
RATES FROM GRAPHS
70
60
x

50

rate of reaction = y
x

40
30

20
10
0
0

10

20

30

time (seconds)

40

50

The gradient of the graph is equal to the initial rate of reaction

at that time.
rate of reaction = 45 cm3
rate of reaction = 2.25 cm3/s
20 s

22

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON RATE

The higher the temperature, the faster the

rate of a reaction and vice-versa.

In many chemical reactions, a rise in

temperature of 10 oC causes the rate of
reaction to approximately double.

Why does increased temperature increase

the rate of reaction?

At a higher temperature, particles have

more kinetic energy. This suggests that
they move faster and are more likely to
collide with other particles.

When the particles collide, they do so with more energy, and so the number of
successful collisions increases. Hence, reaction rate is increased and viceversa.

23

TEMEPATURE & BATTERIES

Why are batteries more likely to rundown more quickly in cold weather?

At low temperatures the

reaction that generates the
electric current proceeds more
slowly
than
at
higher
temperatures.
This means batteries are less
likely to deliver enough
current to meet demand.

HOW DOES TEMEPERATURE AFFECT RATE?

The reaction between sodium thiosulfate and hydrochloric
acid produces sulfur.
sodium
hydrochloric
thiosulfate +
acid

Na2S2O3
(aq)

2HCl
(aq)

sodium

chloride
2NaCl

(aq)

sulfur
dioxide

SO2
(g)

Sulfur is solid and so it turns the solution cloudy.

How can this fact be used to measure the effect of
temperature on rate of reaction?

sulfur

S
(s)

+ water
+

H 2O
(l)

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF

TEMPERATURE ON RATE

Add the HCl to the Na2S2O3 in the flask.

Record the temperature after mixing.
Record the time taken for the X to disappear.
The inverse the time (1/t) produces the reaction rate.
26

REPEAT AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

27

Next slide

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON RATE

Conclusion?
R
A
T
E

Rateincreases
withincreasing
temperature

1
Time

28

TEMPERATURE

EFFECT OF CATALYST ON RATE

Catalysts NEVER produce more product - they just produce the same amount more quickly.

A catalyst is a substance that

increases the rate of a reaction
without being consumed in the
overall reaction.
The catalyst generally does not
appear in the overall balanced
chemical equation (although its
presence may be indicated by
writing its formula over the arrow).

The presence of a solid catalyst (finely divided) provides a surface area over
which gas molecules react (contact catalyst), resulting in more collisions and
hence increase the reaction rate.

The gases must be dried (CaO) and purified before passing them over the
catalyst to prevent poisoning of the catalyst.

29

Any reaction on a solid can only take place

on the surface of the solid.

30

EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION
OF A CATALYST ON RATE
Catalysts NEVER produce more product - they just produce the same amount more quickly.
)
2H 2O 2( aq ) HBr
( aq
2 H 2O ( l ) O 2 ( g )

*Two main functions of a catalyst:

A catalyst speeds up reactions by

reducing
the
activation
energy needed for successful
reaction.

A catalyst may also provide an

alternative
mechanism,
or
pathway, that results in a faster
rate.

Different catalysts work in

different ways, but most lower the
reactions activation energy (Ea).

31

A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a

chemicalreactionwithoutitselfbeingconsumed.

ratecatalyzed > rateuncatalyzed

EVERYDAY CATALYST
Many catalysts are transition metals or their compounds.
For example:
Nickel is a catalyst in the production of margarine
(hydrogenation of vegetable oils).
Iron is a catalyst in the production of ammonia from
nitrogen and hydrogen (the Haber process).
Platinum is a catalyst in the catalytic
converters of car exhausts. It catalyzes the
conversion of carbon monoxide and
nitrogen oxide into the less polluting
carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

EFFECT OF SURFACE AREA

(PARTICLE SIZE) ON RATE

Because the reaction occurs at the surface of

the solid reactant or catalyst, the rate
increases with increasing surface area
(state of sub-division) of the solid and viceversa.

Hence, the reaction is directly proportional

to the surface area of solid reactant.

In such a reaction, collision occurs between

the moving particles and the solid reactant,
hence the larger the surface area, the greater
the opportunities for collisions and the
greater the rate of reaction.

The converse of this condition is

also true.

34

EFFECTOFSURFACEAREAON
RATE

Repeat using the same mass of

powdered CaCO3
and the same volume of HCl
and the same concentration of HCl

Record the time taken for the release of

CO2 to end
( No further mass loss)
35

RESULTS

36

37

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF

PARTICLE SIZE ON RATE

HCl + CaCO3

CaCl2 +

H2O +

CO2

The rate of release of CO2 gas can be used to

monitor the progress of the reaction.
Please visit: http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJtwkum_QA
38

Add the HCl to a large chips of CaCO3 in the flask

As CO2 is released the mass of the flask drops

39

Next slide

Result
40

Finely divided particles react faster than large particles

EFFECT OF PRESSURE ON RATE

Why does increasing the pressure on

gaseous reactants increase the rate of
reaction and vice-versa?

As pressure increases, the space in

which the particles are moving
becomes smaller.

The gas particles become closer

together, increasing the frequency of
collisions. This means that the particles
are more likely to react.

lower pressure

higher pressure
41

EFFECT OF LIGHT ON RATE

Light energy of a sufficiently high frequency can break some chemical bonds and so
speed up chemical reaction.
Examples of light sensitive reactions are:

Reactions of hydrogen with halogens.

(i) H2 + Cl2

2HCl (explosive). This reaction is slow and fast in diffused and

direct sunlight).

(ii) Photosynthesis: construct the equation for this reaction.

42

GLOSSARY
activation energy - The amount of energy needed to start a
reaction (for bond breaking to occur).
catalyst - A substance that increases the rate of a chemical
reaction without being used up.
concentration - The number of molecules of a substance in a
given volume.
rate of reaction - The change in the concentration over a
certain period of time.

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