PRE-LAB 5 AND VIDEO QUESTIONS: THE RATE OF AN IODINE

CLOCK REACTION
(Please note the video questions are on page 3 of this document)

Name: Giovanna Goncalves De Oliveira Demonstrator:

To be completed and handed in to your demonstrator at the start of the laboratory session

All of the questions on this pre-lab can be answered by reading Lab 5 in your lab manual
and watching the corresponding lab video.

1. What factors affect the rate of any given reaction?

The factors that affect the rate of any given reaction are: the reactant concentration,
the physical state of the reactants, the surface area, the temperature and the presence
of a catalyst. (1)

2. This question relates to the specific reactions you will be using during your laboratory
session:

a. Give the chemical equation for the reaction whose rate is being studied

b. Write the general form of the rate law for this reaction

General form: Rate = k [A]m[B]n, where [A] and [B] are the initial concentration of
reactants A and B, m and n are the reaction orders to be determined by experiment.
Therefore, Rate = k [S2O82-]m[I-]n

c. Write the equation you will use to determine the initial rate of reaction (i.e. the ‘Rate’
in your rate law).
−Δ [ A]
Rate = , for initial rate method, where Δ[A] is the change of concentration
Δtime (s)

of reactant A, which in this case A = S2O82-. Therefore,

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d. To determine Δ[S2O82-] in your initial rate equation, you will couple the main reaction
to a second reaction. Write the chemical equation for this second reaction.

e. In addition to the reason mentioned in Q2d, what is another reason for coupling the
main reaction to a second reaction? (Hint: Luke mentions this in the introduction
section of the lab video.)

We are not able to see the concentration change with our eyes. Therefore, the
indicator reaction above was used to give a delayed for the colour change and get the
change rate of time.

f. What interaction is responsible for the dark colour that you will observe appearing in
your reaction flask?

After all of S2O32- is consumed it will not react with I2 anymore, so the concentration
of I2 is increased and the colour will change to a dark colour.

g. What would happen (what would we see) if only the main reaction and the indicator
was used in this experiment? (In other words, what would we see if the main reaction
was not coupled to the second reaction?)

The solution would immediately turn black because I2 is produced in the first equation
and consequently we would not be able to obtain the changing time (delta time would
be zero), which this is essential for achieving the rate of reaction.

h. Based on your previous answers, why are the two coupled reactions (in Q2a and d
above) called an iodine clock reaction?

The reaction is called a clock reaction because the amount of time that elapses before
the solution turns dark depends on the concentrations of the starting chemicals.

(4)
VIDEO QUESTIONS

1. In the lab manual, you're told to use a glass pipette. What type of pipette did Ashleigh
used in the video?

Adjustable micro pipette (0.5)

2. What is the name and colour of the chemical that's used as a catalyst?

The name used as a catalyst was Copper sulphate solution and the colour was blue
(0.5)

3. 2.0 mL converted to L and written in scientific notation is equal to 2.0x10-3L . What

mistake did Luke make when writing this value on the board for his explanation?

Luke wrote 2.0x103L instead of 2.0x10-3L (0.5)

4. Which value for time did Luke use in his example calculation? How is it different to
the value for time you will use in your calculations?

Luke used 158 seconds, which was the changing time for the Experiment 1 trial 1. In
our calculations we used the average time of trials 1 and 2 for the Experiment 1,
which was 160 seconds. (The average time was applied to all the others #
Experiments). (0.5)