Rate of reaction between Sodium Thiosulphate and hydrochloric Acid

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Rate of reaction between Sodium Thiosulphate and hydrochloric Acid

Reaction rates can be explained by the collision theory. The rate of reaction depends on how often and how hard the reacting particles collide with each other. The basic idea is that particles have to collide in order to react, and they have to collide hard enough as well.

There are four main factors that can increase the number of collisions and therefore the reaction rate. When the temperature increases the particles move quicker, and the quicker particles are moving the more collisions they will have.

If the solution is made more concentrated it means there are more particles of reactant between the water molecules, which means that collisions between the reacting particles is more likely.

If one reactant is a solid then breaking it up into smaller pieces will increase the surface area. This means the particles will have a greater area to hit and more collisions will take place.

A catalyst works by giving the reacting particles a surface to stick to where they collide, this produces more collisions than if the catalyst was not there.

When Sodium Thiosulphate is added to Hydrochloric Acid there is a reaction where the solution will become cloudy. There are also products given off such as Sodium Chloride, Sulphur Dioxide, Sulphur and Water.

The equation for this experiment is:

Hydrochloric Acid + Sodium Thiosulphate = Sodium Chloride + Sulphur Dioxide + Sulphur + Water
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2HCl + Na2S2O3 = NaCl + SO2 + S + H2O

This investigation will look into the factors that affect the rate of reaction when Sodium Thiosulphate solution is added to Hydrochloric Acid. I will be investigating the difference made to the reaction depending on the concentration of Sodium Thiosulphate (in a Sodium Thiosulphate/water solution).

In this experiment I will be changing the concentration of Sodium Thiosulphate in the Na2S2O3 / H2O solution before it is added to the hydrochloric acid. The volume of Hydrochloric Acid will remain a constant of 5ml throughout the investigation.

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