Rate of Reactions
Rate of Reactions
Rate of Reactions
product to be formed.
Speed of reaction is inversely proportional to time taken; the shorter the time
needed for reaction to complete, the faster the speed of reaction is.
Marble is reacted with acid in a flask with cotton wool stucked at top to prevent
splashing during reaction but it allows gas to be free.
The reading on balance is plotted on a graph on every time interval.
When large marble is reacted with acid and compared to reaction of fine marble
solids being reacted with acid and the graph of volume of gas against time is
plotted, it is found that the reaction involving finer marble chips produces gas
faster than the one with larger marble chunk as the graph of finer chips is
steeper.
The volume of gas at the end is the same for both reactions.
Therefore, reactions of solids with liquid/gas is faster when the solids are of
smaller pieces
Reactions occur when particles collide.
Small particles creates larger surface area for more collisions between reacting
particles which increases speed of reaction.
Explosions: chemical reactions occuring extremely rapid rate producing heat+gas
Examples
o Coal dust burn faster than large pieces as it has larger surface area. In
coal mines, when air contains too much coal dust, explosion can occur
from a single spark or match. Water is sprayed into the air to remove coal
dust.
o Flour in mills can ignite easily due to large surface area.
2. Concentration of Reactant
In the increase of concentration means there are more solute particles per unit
volume of the solution which favours for more effective collision resulting in an
increase in speed of reaction.
3. Pressure of Reactant
4. Temperature of Reaction
5. Effect of Catalyst
Catalysts are chemical substances which alters speed of reaction without itself
being used at the end of a reaction.
It can be reused and only small amount of catalyst is needed to affect a reaction.
transition metals (e.g. Titanium, Nickel, Iron, Copper) are good catalysts
most catalyst catalyse one kind of reaction (except titanium)
Catalysts lower the need of energy to break bonds so activation energy is lower.
o Consequently, bond breaking occurs easily and more often when particles
collide
Factors Affecting Speed of Catalysed Reactions:
increasing temperature
increasing concentration of solutions
increasing pressure of gas reactions
Enzymes
Characteristics of enzymes:
They are very specific. One enzyme catalyse one type of reaction.
Sensitive to temperature. They work best at 40 oC. Too high or too low
temperatures destroy enzymes.
Sensitive to pH. They function within narrow range of pH.
They are added to detergents from bacteria, and also to make tough meat
tender. These enzymes can be found in papaya fruit.
Yeast convert sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide by fermentation. Beer, wine
and soy sauce are made this way.
Fungal enzymes can be used to make antibiotics such as penicillin.
Exothermic Reaction
1. Changes of State
When gas condenses to water or water freezes to solid, heat is given out.
Eg. Condensation of steam to water
o H2O (g) → H2O (l) + heat
2. Combustion reactions
Dissolving solid salt to aqueous solution of the salt gives out heat
Eg. Dissolving of Na2CO3 in water (or CuSO4)
o Na2CO3 (s) → Na2CO3 (l) + heat
Eg. Dissolving of concentrated acid in water
o HCl (aq) + H2O (l) → less concentrated HCl (aq) + heat
4. Neutralization
When acid and alkali react it gives out heat due to combining of H + ions from acid
and OH- ions from alkali to form water
o H+ (aq) + OH- (aq) → H2O (l) + heat
5. Metal Displacement
Endothermic Reaction
1. Changes of states
When solid melts to water & boils to steam, heat is absorbed to break the bond.
Eg. Condensation of steam to water
o H2O (s) + heat → H2O (l)
2. Photolysis
4. Photosynthesis
5. Decomposition by heat
Many compounds require heat for decomposition, e.g. CaCO 3 to CO2 + CaO
o CaCO3 (s) + heat → CO2 (g) + CaO (s)
Exothermic reaction:
Endothermic reaction:
Worked Example
Hydrogen bromide is made by reacting H 2 gas with Br2 gas. Calculate the heat change
of the reaction given the equation and bond energy table below.
H – H + Br – Br → H H Br Br
Broken bonds are used to make H – Br bonds of HBr. Heat energy is released.
H H Br Br → 2H – Br
Exothermic ΔH
= the bond energy of 2 H – Br bonds
= 2(366)
= – 732 kJ
Endothermic ΔH
= the bond energy of 1 H – H bond + 1 Br – Br bond
= 436 + 224
= + 660 kJ
ΔH = – 732 + 660 = – 72 kJ
Therefore more heat is given out in making bond than absorbed in breaking bond.
The overall change is to give out heat and it’s exothermic with ΔH negative.
Activation energy
Fuels
The combustion of fuels gives out large amount of energy in industries, transport
& homes.
These fuel mainly methane from coal, wood, oil, natural gas & hydrogen.
Combustion in air provides energy and gives out heat. Hence, exothermic
reaction.
Hydrogen as a Fuel
Hydrogen provides twice as much as heat energy per gram than any other fuel
and burns cleanly in air to form steam.
They are mainly used as rocket fuel.
Production of Hydrogen
By cracking of hydrocarbon:
First, methane (hydrocarbon) and steam are passed over a nickel catalyst to
form hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
o CH4 (g) + H2O (g) --> CO (g) + 3H2 (g)
The by-product carbon monoxide is not wasted. It is reacted with more steam to
form carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
o CO (g) + H2O (g) --> CO2 (g) + H2 (g)
Now you get more hydrogen.
By electrolysis:
In Engines:
The hydrogen created is reacted with oxygen to form steam and heat energy
2H2 (g) + O2 (g) --> H2O (g) + heat
This heat is needed to thrust the vehicle forward. However, we don’t use heat energy for
our daily appliances.
Instead we use electrical energy and to make electrical energy from hydrogen,
we use fuel cell
Fuel Cells
A fuel cell converts chemical energy directly into electrical energy.
Hydrogen reacts with hydroxide ions into electrolyte on the platinum catalyst on
electrode to make the electrode negatively-charged.
o H2 + 2OH- --> 2H2O + 2e-
Electrons flows past the load and to the other electrode. That negatively-charged
electrode is now anode. Hydroxide ions constantly deposit electrons here to
make water. While then, the other electrode is now cathode.
Oxygen reacts with water created on from hydrogen on the cathode to gain
electrons from it:
o O2 + 2H2O + 4e- --> 4OH-
If we combine the ionic equations, we still get water as product of hydrogen and
oxygen, but the energy produced is now electrical energy:
o 2H2 (g) + O2 (g) --> H2O (g) + electrical energy
Advantages Disadvantages
Electrical energy can be generated Hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells are
continuously if there’s continuous very expensive, hence limiting
1
fuel supply their use.
The by-product of fuel cells is
steam, which do not pollute the
2
environment
Chemical energy is efficiently
converted to electrical energy.
3 Hence there is minimal loss of
energy.
Petroleum
Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons, which are compounds made up of
carbon and hydrogen only.
Crude oil, freshly extracted from underground, undergo refining – a process
where oil undergoes fractional distillation to be separated into its fractions.
First, crude oil is heated up to 350oC and the vapours rise up a tower, divided
with trays on some certain heights for the fractions to be collected.
The fractionating column is cooler on top, hence upper trays collects fractions of
low boiling points while the lower ones, being hotter, collect those with higher
boiling points.
Photosynthesis
MCQ Questions
1. If a strip of magnesium is dropped into excess hydrochloric acid an exothermic
reaction occurs. The rate of reaction increases during the first few seconds
because
a. the amount of magnesium is decreasing
b. the magnesium is acting as a catalyst
c. the solution is becoming hotter
d. the surface area of the magnesium is increasing
3. Dilute sulphuric acid reacts with copper(II) oxide to form copper(II) sulphate
and water. What would not alter the rate of this reaction?
a. the concentration of the sulphuric acid
b. the pressure at which the reaction takes place
c. the size of the particles of copper(II) oxide
d. the temperature of the reacting mixture
4. Zinc reacts with an excess of dilute sulphuric acid. The graph shows how the
volume of hydrogen gas given off changed with time.
11. In the graph, curve X represents the results of the reaction between 1.0 g of
granulated zinc and an excess of acid at 30oC.
12. Ethanol is produced by the fermentation of sugar. During the reaction, carbon
dioxide is given off. The graph shows how the volume of carbon dioxide
produced per minute varies with temperature.
Using the graph, decide which statement is correct?
a. the rate of reaction always increases with temperature
b. the rate of reaction reaches a maximum at about 40
c. the reaction is slowest at 0
d. the reaction takes a long time to begin
13. Which change will increase the speed of the reaction between 1 mol of each of
the two gases?
a. a decrease in surface area of the catalyst
b. a decrease in temperature
c. a decrease in the volume of the reaction flask
d. an increase in the volume of the reaction flask
14. Magnesium reacts with hydrochloric acid. Which solution would give the
fastest initial rate of reaction?
a. 40g of HCl in 1000cm3 of water
b. 20g of HCl in 1000cm3 of water
c. 10g of HCl in 100cm3 of water
d. 4g of HCl in 50cm3 of water
15. In which reaction is the pressure least likely to affect the rate of reaction
a. C (s) + CO2 (g) ---> 2CO (g)
b. 2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) ---> 2SO3 (g)
c. N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) ---> 2NH3 (g)
d. NaOH (aq) + HCl (aq) ---> NaCl (aq) + H2O (l)
18. Which element is always present in fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas?
a. hydrogen
b. carbon
c. oxygen
d. nitrogen
19. Natural gas burns more easily than other fuels because
a. it is more exothermic
b. it is a gas
c. it is colourless
d. it has a low density
20. Most fuels contain small amounts of sulphur. When they burn, a gas which
pollutes the atmosphere and causes acid rain is formed. it is called
a. carbon monoxide
b. carbon dioxide
c. sulphur dioxide
d. sulphur trioxide
21. Methane (CH4) is the main constituent of natural gas. When it burns, it
produces 890 kJ of heat per mole. How much heat would be produced if 64 g of
methane were burnt?
[Ar of C = 12, Ar of H = 1]
a. 890 kJ
b. 1780 kJ
c. 2670 kJ
d. 3560 kJ
24. Which pair of elements, described by their proton number, will react together
most exothermically?
a. 2 and 8
b. 12 and 16
c. 3 and 10
d. 19 and 9
27. Methane gas reacts extremely slowly with air at room temperature. If a piece
of warm platinum is held in a methane-air mixture, the methane ignites. What
differences are there between the reaction with the platinum and the reaction
without the platinum?
For the reaction with the platinum:
I. The activation energy is lower.
II. The energy change is greater.
III. The energy of the reactants is higher.
IV. The rate of reaction is greater.
a. I and II only
b. I and III only
c. I and IV only
d. II and IV only
28. The graph shows how the total volume of hydrogen produced changes when
iron fillings reacted with excess dilute sulphuric acid.
29. Two experiments were carried out in which hydrochloric acid was added to
limestone.
The initial rate of evolution of carbon dioxide and the total volume of carbon
dioxide evolved were measured in each experiment. How do the results in
experiment A compare with those in experiment B when all other conditions are
identical?
Rate of evolution of carbon dioxide Total volume of carbon dioxide
a. It is slower in A than in B. It is the same in A and B.
b. It is faster in B than in A. It is greater in B than in A.
c. It is slower in B than in A. It is greater in B than in A.
d. It is the same in A and B. It is greater in A than in B.
MCQ Answers
1. c
2. d
3. b
4. b
5. b
6. c
7. a
8. a
9. d
10. a
11. c (since the total vol of H2 collected is about half of X, the mass of Zn used should
be halved. The steeper gradient of Y suggests a faster rate of reaction eg higher
temperature)
12. b
13. c
14. c
15. d (there are no gaseous reactants in the reaction)
16. c
17. c
18. b
19. a
20. c
21. d
22. b
23. c
24. d
25. b
26. d
27. c
28. b
29. a
30. b
Worked Solutions
1. A metallic element forms compounds in which its oxidation states are II and III.
The element is displaced from solutions of its salts by copper.
a. Using the symbol El for the element, write the formulae for the chlorides and
oxides of this element.
b. Why is it necessary for the symbols of the majority of the elements to consist
of two letters rather than one only?
c. Would you expect this element El to react with dilute sulphuric acid? Explain
your answer.
Solution
b. There are elements with names that start with the same letter eg. copper (Cu) and
carbon (C)
c. No. Because copper does not react with dilute sulphuric acid and El is less reactive
than copper.
2. Give one physical property and one chemical property possessed by all metals.
Solution
bii. Predict how the proportion of AB2 at equilibrium changes if the pressure is
increased.
Solution
a. exothermic. This is because the forward reaction has a negative heat change,
indicating that heat is released.
bi. The amounts of A, B and AB2 are constant (equilibrium) but the forward and
backward reactions are still taking place (dynamic).
c. Rate is faster. At higher temperature, the molecules have more kinetic energy. More
molecules possess energy greater than the required minimum energy for a reaction to
take place. Furthermore, they collide more frequently with one another. Hence, the rate
of reaction increases.
4. The element oxygen exists in two forms, O2 and O3. Both forms are gases.
b. Ozone is an oxidizing agent. Describe the color change you expect to see when
ozone is bubbled into aqueous potassium iodide.
color before:
color after:
Solution
aii. 60 cm3
bi. colorless
bii. brown
5a. Ammonia is made in the Haber process by the reversible reaction between
nitrogen and hydrogen.
i. How is nitrogen obtained from liquid air for use in this process?
ii. State the name of the catalyst and the conditions used in the Haber process.
i. Predict how increasing the pressure will change the percentage of ethanol
present at equilibrium. Explain your answer.
ii. The table shows how the percentage of ethanol present at equilibrium changes
with temperature at a pressure of 60 atmospheres.
percentage of ethanol
temperature/oC
produce/%
200 49
260 38
320 34
c. One use of ethanol is the manufacture of an acid. Name the acid and draw its
structural formula.
Solution
bi. Increasing pressure will shift the equilibrium to the right where there is a reduction in
total amount of gases since 2 moles of gases combine to give only 1 mole. Hence, the
percentage of ethanol increases.
bii. As temperature increases, amount of ethanol produced decreases, showing that the
reverse reaction is favored. Hence, the backward reaction is endothermic where heat is
absorbed. Therefore, the formation of ethanol is exothermic.
c. ethanoic acid
6. The table below shows some bond energies, measured in kilojoules per mole.
Bond energy is the energy required to break the bonds between pairs of atoms
bond energy in bond energy in
bond bond
kJ/mol kJ/mol
H - H 436 Cl - Cl 242
H - Cl 431 C - H 412
C = C 612 C - C 348
N = N 409 N - N 163
b. Is the double bond between two carbon atoms twice as strong as a single
bond? Use the info given above to explain your answer
c. Use the info given to calculate the total energy required to break one mole of
methane into atoms.
CH4 --> C + 4H; ∆H = ? kJ
Solution
6a. C = C bond
6b. No. If C = C bond is twice as strong as a C - C bond, then the C = C bond energy
should be 2 x 348 = 696 kJ/mol, but the bond energy of C = C bond is actually less than
that.
6di. 436 kJ
6dii. 242 kJ
1diii. 436 + 242 = 678 kJ
1div. -(2 x 431) = - 862 kJ
1dv. 678 + (- 862) = - 184 kJ
7. In the Contact process for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, sulphur dioxide is
converted into sulphur dioxide.
c. Describe how you would prepare a pure dry sample of sodium sulphate
starting with dilute sulphuric acid.
Solution
7a. At dynamic equilibrium for a reversible reaction, the forward rate of reaction is equal
to the backward rate of reaction, and both rates are not equal to zero.
7bi. Amount of SO3 decreases. When temperature is raised, the equilibrium shifts to the
left where heat is absorbed (backward reaction is endothermic) so as to counteract the
temperature change.
7bii. Faster rate of reaction. Since temperature is raised, both forward and backward
rates of reaction are increased.
7c. First, perform a titration on 25.0 cm3 of aqueous NaOH, with dilute sulphuric acid
using a suitable indicator such as phenolphthalein. The volume of acid used is noted at
the end point when the colour of the indicator changes. Repeat the experiment but
without the indicator. The final solution will be sodium sulphate solution. Crystalise
sodium sulphate by evaporation. The crystals are filtered, washed with water, and dried
with filter paper and dessicator.
8. In the future, fuel cells may be used to power cars. In a fuel cell, the overall
reaction is represented by the equatin
ii. The fuel cell contains a catalyst. Draw a second curve on the diagram to show
the energy profile for the catalysed reaction.
iii. Explain why this reaction is exothermic in terms of bond breaking and bond
forming.
b. Choose from the following list the metal that is most likely to act as a catalyst.
Give a reason for your answer.
berylllium
lead
titanium
aluminium
Solution
8a.
8aiii. The amount of energy released when covalent bonds in the water molecules are
formed is greater than the energy required to break covalent bonds in the hydrogen and
oxygen molecules. Hence, there is a net amount of energy released.
a. Explain why this reaction is exothermic in terms of the energy changes that
take place during bond breaking and bond forming.
b. Calculate the energy released when 4.0g of methane is completely combusted.
c. Draw the energy profile diagram for the complete combustion of methane.
Solution
9a. The reaction is exothermic because the heat of reaction, ∆H, has a negative value.
The energy released during formation of covalent bonds in products is greater than the
energy absorbed to break covalent bonds in reactants. Hence, the overall reaction is
exothermic. A total of 890 kJ of energy is released.
9c.
10. Methane is a fuel. It completely burns to form carbon dioxide and water. When
1 mole of methane is burned, 890 kJ of energy is released.
Solution
i. Suggest why liquid hydrogen, rather than hydrogen gas is carried by space
rockets.
ii. Explain what is meant by an exothermic reaction.
iii. Which bonds are broken in this reaction.
iv. What type of energy change occurs when bonds are formed?
v. When 1 mole of hydrogen molecules reacts with oxygen, the energy ÔH =
-285kJ
Calculate the energy change which occurs when 100g of hydrogen reacts with
oxygen.
Solution
11a. Hydrogen is formed from the reaction between steam and methane.
H2O (g) + CH4 (g) --> CO (g) + 3H2 (g)