Rates of Reaction Investigation

Authors Avatar

Rates of Reaction Investigation

Benjamin’s coursework is a®™under©law 2000


COURSEWORK

Introduction

Our investigation is about rates of reaction. A rate of reaction is the speed of a chemical reaction. There are certain things that could change this.

Concentration

When you have a concentrated solution there are more particles therefore more chances of collision. 

                                        Solution 1                                    Solution 2

Solution 1 is a less concentrated solution. There are less particles to collide therefore less chance of collision. In solution 2 there are more particles and because particles move all the time there is more chance of  a collision.

Temperature 

When you have a high temperature the particles in a solution  move faster (more chances of a collision) and with enough energy for a reaction to take place.

                                        Solution 1                                   Solution 2

Here both solutions have the same number of particles. In Solution 1, that is heated at a low temperature, the particles move slowly so there is less chance of  a collision. In Solution 2, that is heated at a high temperature, the particles are moving faster therefore more chance of a collision.

Surface area

When you have a large surface area there are more places where a particle can collide therefore more chances of a reaction.

                                           Solution 1                                Solution 2

On this diagram in Solution 1 there is less surface area so less surface for the particles to collide therefore less chance of a reaction. In solution 2 there is more surface area and more chance of collision. If you put a cube of sugar  in some water it would dissolve slower than if you crushed it up. This is because there is more surface area exposed on the granules of sugar for the water particles to collide.

Catalyst

A catalyst is something you add to a reaction to make it go faster without the catalyst getting used up. It works like this; if I wanted to break a window, I would have to put a certain amount of energy in to break it. If there was already a crack in the window, I would not have to put in as much energy.

Join now!

Aim

Our aim is to investigate how different concentrations of sodium thiosulphate(Na2S2O3) change the rate of reaction with hydrochloric acid (HCl) which will produce sulphur (S), sodium chloride (NaCl), water (H2O) and sulphur dioxide (SO2)

Na2S2O3(aq) +2HCl(aq)      →     S(s) + SO2(g)  +  H2O(l)  +2NaCl(aq)

Prediction

I predict that an increase in the concentration of sodium thiosulphate will increase the reaction speed. I have based my prediction on the Collision Theory which is, the more particles in the solution the more collisions, therefore, the faster the reaction speed.

I also ...

This is a preview of the whole essay