An investigation testing how temperature affects the rate of reaction between Hydrochloric acid and sodium thiosulphate.

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An investigation testing how temperature affects the rate of reaction between Hydrochloric acid and sodium thiosulphate.

Aim:

My aim in this experiment is to investigate how the rate of reaction between Sodium Thiosuphate and Hydrochloric acid is affected by temperature.

Prediction:

I predict that as the temperature is increased the rate of reaction will increase. This can be justified by relating to the collision theory. When the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully. If solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. All this can be understood better with full understanding of the collision theory itself: 

Apparatus:

  • 1 thermometer
  • 1 beaker
  • 2 measuring cylinders
  • 1 conical flask
  • 1 tripod
  • 1 gauze
  • 1 heat-proof mat
  • 1 stopwatch
  • 1 Bunsen burner
  • Marked X
  • 1 pair of tongs
  • 1 pair of goggles

Safety:

A pair of goggles will be worn during the heating part of the experiment in order to protect the eyes. When handling hot beakers and measuring cylinders a pair of tongs will be used. A gauze and heatproof mat will be used while heating to avoid any damage to the equipment.

Fair Test:

In order for my findings to be valid the experiment must be a fair one. I will use the same person each time to judge when the X has disappeared. I will make sure that the measuring cylinders for the HCl and thiosulphate will not be mixed up. The amount of HCl will be 5 cm3 each time and the amount of thiosulphate will be fixed at 15 cm3. During the heating stage of the experiment, a blue flame will be used throughout. Also the same Bunsen burner and gas tap will be used to maintain continuity. All of these precautions will make my final results more reliable and keep anomalies at a minimum so thus make the entire investigation more successful.

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Background:

Reactions happen at many different speeds, explosions are extremely fast reactions. Other reactions are slow, like iron rusting.

For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier that has to be overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the frequency of ...

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