The effect of different concentrations of Iron (III) Chloride with the mass loss of copper.

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The effect of different concentrations of Iron (III) Chloride with the mass loss of copper.

The aim of my investigation is to study the effect of the rate at which copper is fixed by different concentrations of Iron (III) Chloride. I will place copper strips in varying concentrations of Iron (III) Chloride, and then record results and interpret them.

The reaction above is used in technology. Printed Circuit Boards are thin, flat boards made from non-conduction materials eg.plastic. Chips and other components are mounted on to them. The PCB starts off as a sheet of plastic coated with a layer of copper. It is placed into a tank containing a concentrated solution of Iron (III) Chloride to remove the excess copper and the protected copper, which remains become the PCB tracks.

This is the formulae of the reaction which takes place between copper and Fe3+ ions shown below:

Cu (s) + 2Fe3+ (aq)         Cu2+ (aq) +2Fe2+ (aq)

It is a REDOX reaction. This means that the copper is reduced as it has lost 2 electrons. It becomes a Cu2+ ion . The iron is oxidised, as it has gained 2 electrons and therefore it becomes a Fe2+ ion as demonstrated below.

 

Cu – 2e-                 Cu2+                                        Fe3+ + e-                 Fe2+

I have studied kinetics in detail. And I have 6 different experiments which can all be related to our coursework.

  1. Magnesium ribbon and  various concentrations of Hydrochloric acid
  2. Hydrogen peroxide and Manganese Dioxide
  3. Sodium Thiosulphate and Dilute Hydrochloric acid
  4. Calcium carbonate and Dilute Hydrochloric acid
  5. Barium Chloride and Sodium Sulphate
  6. Glucose solution and Acidified Potassium Permanganate Solution

From doing these experiments I learnt that there are 4 main factors that affect the rate of reaction. They are;

  • Concentration of a reactant in solution or in the gas state
  • The higher the concentration of the reactant the faster the process will occur. In the kinetics practical of magnesium ribbon and various concentrations of hydrochloric acid we discovered that as the concentration of Hydrochloric acid increased, the faster the magnesium was dissolved. Therefore the reaction rate was greatly influenced by the concentration of the reactant.

  • Temperature
  • The higher the temperature the faster the reaction will happen. In the kinetics experiment between the Glucose solution and Acidified Potassium Permanganate solution, two solutions were composed in test tubes and one was left in room temperature, while the other was left in a bath of hot water. We found that the one in the hot water bath turned colourless quicker than the other one which therefore goes to prove that temperature greatly influences the reaction rate.
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  • 3) Surface area of reactant 
  • The larger the surface area; the faster the reaction rate. In the calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid kinetics practical we found that the larger the surface area of the calcium carbonate lumps, the faster the reaction occurred which therefore is evidence that the surface area greatly influences the rate of reaction.

  • 4) Presence of a Catalyst-
  • A Catalyst is a substance which increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the process. We learn of this aspect from the last experiment between Hydrogen ...

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