UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

DEPARTMENT OF
CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
A
CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
LABORATORY REPORT
ON
REACTION KINETICS
TITLE PAGE
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

NAME : ARIERHI JUSTICE OMAMUYOWE

MAT. NUMBER: ENG1804619

SERIAL NUMBER: 94

GROUP NUMBER: B5

LEVEL: 300 LEVEL

COURSE CODE: ELA301

EXPERIMENT NUMBER: EXPERIMENT THREE(3)

NAME OF INSTRUCTORS: ENGR. FREDERICK OSHOMOGHO

DATE: 23/09/2021

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT: REACTION KINETICS

AIM OF EXPERIMENT: 1. TO DETERMINE THE VELOCITY

CONSTANT

OF PSEUDO-FIRST-ORDER
REACTION OF

POTASSIUM PERSULPHATE IN

POTASSIUM IODIDE AT THREE

DIFFERENT

TEMPERATURES.

2. TO CALCULATE THE ACTIVATION

ENERGY
 AND FREQUENCY FACTOR FOR
THE

REACTION.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................................. 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………………………………2
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................................................. 3
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 5
THEORY ................................................................................................................... 7
DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS ............................................................................... 10
EQUIPMENT .......................................................................................................... 10
MATERIALS ............................................................................................................ 10
PROCEDURE .......................................................................................................... 17
RESULT .................................................................................................................. 18
DISCUSSION........................................................................................................... 22
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 24
RECOMMENDATION ............................................................................................. 24
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 25
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................. 26
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Beaker ................................................................................................... 11
Figure 2: Conical Flask........................................................................................... 11
Figure 3: Burette................................................................................................... 13
Figure 4: Funnel ................................................................................................... 13
Figure 5: Retort Stand .......................................................................................... 14
Figure 6: Measuring Cylinder................................................................................ 15
Figure 7: Stopwatch.............................................................................................. 15
Figure 8: Volumetric Flask ………………………………………………………………………………. 15
Figure 9: Thermometer……………………………………………………………………………………. 15
Figure 10: Water Bath……………………………………………………………………………………….
15
Figure 11: experimental setup.............................................................................. 16

Table 1:Tabulation of Titration Result in The Use of Water For The Extraction.... 18
Table 2: Tabulation of Titration Result in The Use of Potassium-iodide For The
Extraction.............................................................................................................. 19
ABSTRACT
The experiment focused on the kinetics of the reaction and how temperature and
time affect this rate.

The reaction is a pseudo- first order reaction which implies that the concentration
of one of the reactants (potassium iodide) was increased. The temperature was kept
constant and the experiment was carried out at different time intervals i.e. Table
1,to observe the effect of time on the rate of the reaction. The experiment was also
carried out at different temperature.

This experiment was aimed at determining the velocity constants of the pseudo –
first – order reaction of potassium persulphate in potassium iodide at four different
temperatures which were ambient temperature (310C), 400C, 500C, 600C. The
experiment also aimed at calculating the activation energy and frequency factor for
the reaction.

The experiment was performed by titrating the reaction mixture of potassium

persulphate, glacial acetic acid and potassium iodide, with sodium thiosulphate.
The values obtained from the titration were then used to plot the graph of ln(a/a-x)
against time t (minutes) for each temperature. The velocity constant K was gotten
by calculating the slope of the graph. At ambient temperature (31 0C), K was 0.018
mol-1/min, at 400C, K was 0.0125 mol-1/min, at 500C, K was 0.0083 mol-1/min, and
at 600C, K was 0.003 mol-1/min.

The graph of ln K against 1/T where values obtained from the first four graphs.
The slope of the graph ln k against 1/T was calculated to be 7.33 mol -1 min-1 K-1
which was E/RT. Thus the activation energy E was calculated to be 60.942 KJ/mol
from the Arrhenius equation [ lnK = E/RT + lnA], where lnA which is the intercept
was gotten to be 6.10 which further gave the frequency factor (A) to be 445.86
min-1.
INTRODUCTION
Chemical kinetics, also known as reaction kinetics, is the branch of physical
chemistry that is concerned with understanding the rates of chemical reactions. It
involves investigations of how experimental conditions influence the speed of
a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's
mechanismand transition states, as well as the construction of mathematical
models that also can describe the characteristics of a chemical reaction.

Collision Theory

To understand the kinetics of chemical reactions, and the factors that affect
kinetics, we should first examine what happens during a reaction on the molecular
level. According to the collision theory of reactivity, reactions occur when reactant
molecules “effectively collide.” For an “effective collision” to occur, the reactant
molecules must be oriented in space correctly to facilitate the breaking and
forming of bonds and the rearrangement of atoms that result in the formation of
product molecules. During a molecular collision, molecules must also possess a
minimum amount of kinetic energy for an effective collision to occur. This energy
varies for each reaction, and is known as the activation energy (Ea).The rate of
reaction therefore depends on the activation energy; a higher activation energy
means that fewer molecules will have sufficient energy to undergo an effective
collision.

Chemical kinetics deals with the experimental determination of reaction rates from

which rate laws and rate constants are derived. Relatively simple rate laws exist
for zero order reactions (for which reaction rates are independent of
concentration), first order reactions, and second order reactions, and can be derived
for others. The activation energy for a reaction is experimentally determined
through the Arrhenius equation and the Eyring equation. The main factors that
influence the reaction rate include: the physical state of the reactants,
the concentrations of the reactants, the temperature at which the reaction occurs,
and whether or not any catalysts are present in the reaction

FACTORS AFFECTING REACTION RATE

 CONCENTRATION

The reactions are due to collisions of reactant species. The frequency with which
the molecules or ions collide depends upon their concentrations. The more
crowded the molecules are, the more likely they are to collide and react with one
another. Thus, an increase in the concentrations of the reactants will usually result
in the corresponding increase in the reaction rate, while a decrease in the
concentrations will usually have a reverse effect.

 PRESSURE

Increasing the pressure in a gaseous reaction will increase the number of collisions
between reactants, increasing the rate of reaction. This is because the activity of a
gas is directly proportional to the partial pressure of the gas. This is similar to the
effect of increasing the concentration of a solution. Increasing the pressure
increases the heat transfer rate between the reacting molecules and the rest of the
system.

 ABSORPTION OF LIGHT.

The activation energy for a chemical reaction can be provided when one reactant
molecule absorbs light of suitable wavelength and is promoted to an excited state.

 TEMPERATURE.

Temperature usually has a major effect on the rate of a chemical reaction.

Molecules at a higher temperature have more thermal energy. Although collision
frequency is greater at higher temperatures, this alone contributes only a very small
proportion to the increase in rate of reaction. Much more important is the fact that
the proportion of reactant molecules with sufficient energy to react (energy greater
than activation energy: E > Ea) is significantly higher.

 NUMBER OF BONDS.

: Reactions involving the breaking of fewer bonds per reactant proceed faster than those
involving the breaking of a larger number of bonds per reactant.

 SURFACE AREA OF THE REACTANTS

In a solid, only those particles that are at the surface can be involved in a reaction.
Crushing a solid into smaller parts means that more particles are present at the
surface, and the frequency of collisions between these and reactant particles
increases, and so reaction occurs more rapidly.

 STATE OF MATTER.

Gases tend to react faster than solids or liquids: It takes energy to separate
particles from each other. 

 BOND TYPE.

Reactions involving ionic species tend to proceed faster than reactions involving
molecular compounds.

 BOND STRENGHT.
Reactions involving the breaking of weaker bonds proceed faster than reactions
involving the breaking of stronger bonds. For example, double carbon to carbon
bonds are stronger than single C-C bonds
 PHYSICAL STATE.

The physical state (solid, liquid, or gas) of a reactant is also an important factor of

the rate of change. When reactants are in the same phase, as in aqueous solution,
thermal motion brings them into contact. However, when they are in separate
phases, the reaction is limited to the interface between the reactants. Reaction can
occur only at their area of contact; in the case of a liquid and a gas, at the surface
of the liquid. Vigorous shaking and stirring may be needed to bring the reaction to
completion. This means that the more finely divided a solid or liquid reactant the
greater its surface area per unit volume and the more contact it with the other
reactant, thus the faster the reaction.
THEORY
Chemical kinetics, the branch of physical chemistry that is concerned with
understanding the rates of chemical reactions. It is to be contrasted
with thermodynamics, which deals with the direction in which a process occurs but
in itself tells nothing about its rate. The vast amount of work done in chemical
kinetics has led to the conclusion that some chemical reactions go in a single step;
these are known as elementary reactions. Other reactions go in more than one step
and are said to be stepwise, composite, or complex. Measurements of the rates of
chemical reactions over a range of conditions can show whether a reaction
proceeds by one or more steps. If a reaction is stepwise, kinetic measurements
provide evidence for the mechanism of the individual elementary steps.
 The kinetic behaviour of an ordinary chemical reaction is conventionally studied
in the first instance by determining how the reaction rate is influenced by certain
external factors such as the concentrations of the reacting substances,
the temperature, and sometimes the pressure. For a reaction in which two
substances A and B react with each other, it is sometimes found that the reaction
rate is proportional to the concentration of A, represented by [A], and to the
concentration of B, or [B]. In that case the reaction is said to be a second-order
reaction; it is first order in [A] and first order in [B]. In such a case the reaction
rate v can be expressed as v = k[A][B],where k is a constant, known as the rate
constant for the reaction.

This is just one of many types of kinetics that can be observed. A substance A that
changes into another substance may obey a kinetic equation of the form v = k[A],
which is a first-order reaction. It is important to recognize that the kinetics of a
reaction does not always correspond in a simple way to the balanced chemical
equation for the reaction. Thus, if a reaction is of the form A + B ⇌ Y + Z, the
reaction is not necessarily second-order in both directions. This is in contrast to the
situation with the equilibrium constant for the reaction, which corresponds to the
balanced equation. The reason why the kinetic law is different is that the reactions
in the forward and reverse directions may occur by stepwise mechanisms that lead
to a different and usually more complex kinetic equation.

The effect of temperature on reaction rates provides much information

about reaction mechanisms. Understanding of this effect owes much to the ideas of
the Dutch physical chemist Jacobus Henricus van ’t Hoff and the Swedish
chemist Svante August Arrhenius. Their equation for the dependence of a rate
constant k on the absolute temperatureT is k = A exp (−E/RT),where R is the molar
gas constant and A and E are quantities that are different for each reaction. This
equation has come to be called the Arrhenius equation
CHEMICAL REACTION
Chemical reaction, a process in which one or more substances, the reactants, are converted
to one or more different substances, the products. Substances are either chemical elements or
compounds. A chemical reaction rearranges the constituent atoms of the reactants to create
different substances as products.
TYPES OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS.
 Decomposition Reaction
A decomposition reaction works quite the opposite to a synthesis reaction. It is a reaction
where a more complex substance breaks apart into simpler ones. A general form of a
decomposition reaction can be written as:
AB —> A + B
An example of a decomposition reaction is the electrolysis of water to form hydrogen
and oxygen gas.
 Combustion Reactions
A combustion reaction is a reaction in which a substance reacts with oxygen gas, releasing
energy in the form of light and heat. Combustion reactions must involve O2 as one reactant.
The combustion of hydrogen gas produces water vapor (see figure below).
2H2(g)+O2(g)+2H2O(g)
 Double-Replacement Reactions
A double-replacement reaction is a reaction in which the positive and negative ions of
two ionic compounds exchange places to form two new compounds. The general form of
a double-replacement (also called double-displacement) reaction is:
 AB+CD→AD+CB
 Synthesis Reaction
A synthesis reaction is one in which two or more substances are combined to form a more
complex one. The chemical equation for a general form of synthesis reaction is as follows:
A + B —> AB

ACTIVATION ENERGY
Activation energy, in chemistry, the minimum amount of energy that is required to activate
atoms or molecules to a condition in which they can undergo chemical transformation or
physical transport.
FREQUENCY FACTOR
The pre-exponential factor, A, is a constant that can be derived experimentally or numerically. It
is also called the frequency factor and describes the number of times two molecules collide. In
empirical settings, the pre-exponential factor is considered constant
RATE CONSTANT
In chemical kinetics a reaction rate constant or reaction rate coefficient, k, quantifies the rate and
direction of a chemical reaction
ORDER OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS
The Order of Reaction refers to the power dependence of the rate on the concentration of each
reactant. It refers to the relationship between the rate of a chemical reaction and the concentration of
the species taking part in it. In order to obtain the reaction order, the rate expression (or the rate
equation) of the reaction in question must be obtained. The order of reaction is an experimentally
determined parameter and can take on a fractional value. This is distinct from the molecularity (or
stoichiometry) of the reaction which is the theoretical integer value of the number of molecules
involved in the reaction.

FIRST ORDER CHEMICAL REACTION

The rates of these reactions depend on the concentration of only one reactant, i.e. the order of reaction
is 1.

In these reactions, there may be multiple reactants present, but only one reactant will be of first-order
concentration while the rest of the reactants would be of zero-order concentration.

Example of a first-order reaction: 2H2O2 → 2H2O + O2

PSEUDO-FIRST ORDER REACTIONS

In a pseudo-first order reaction, the concentration of one reactant remains constant and is therefore
included in the rate constant in the rate expression.
The concentration of the reactant may be constant because it is present in excess when compared to
the concentration of other reactants, or because it is a catalyst.

Example of a pseudo-first order reaction: CH3COOCH3 + H2O → CH3COOH + CH3OH (this reaction
follows pseudo-first order kinetics because water is present in excess).

Change of Concentration with Time

For 1st order reactions: ln[A]t = −kt + ln[A]0

where [A]t = concentration of [A] after some time, t
k= reaction rate constant in units of s-1
t= time in seconds
[A]o = initial concentration of A
• This equation has the general form for a straight line, y=mx+b, so
a plot of ln[A]t
vs. t is a straight line with slope (-k) and intercept

ln[A]0.

APPLICATION OF REACTION KINETICS

 Chemical reaction kinetics provide chemists and chemical engineers with tools to better
understand and describe chemical processes such as food decomposition, microorganism
growth, stratospheric ozone decomposition, and the chemistry of biological systems.
 It can also be used in the design or modification of chemical reactors to optimize product
yield, more efficiently separate products, and eliminate environmentally harmful by-
products.
  When performing catalytic cracking of heavy hydrocarbons into gasoline and light gas,
for example, kinetic models can be used to find the temperature and pressure at which the
highest yield of heavy hydrocarbons into gasoline will occur.
 It helps to understand the steps by which a reaction takes place. These series of steps are
called the reaction mechanisms.
 It provides evidence for the mechanisms of chemical processes.

DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS
EQUIPMENT
 Beaker
 Conical Flask
 Separating Funnel
 Burette
 Funnel
 Retort Stand
 Measuring Cylinder
 Stopwatch
 Volumetric Flask
 Thermometer
 Water Bath

MATERIALS
 Sodium Thiosulphate
 Potassium Persulphate
 Starch Indicator
 Glacial Acetic Acid
 Potassium Iodide.

BEAKER
 A beaker is a cylindrical container used to store, mix and heat liquids in laboratories. Most are
made of glass, but other non-corrosive materials, such as metal and heatresistant plastic, are
also used. Beakers usually have a flat bottoms and a lip around the top.

Figure 1: Beaker

CONICAL FLASK
An Erlenmeyer flask, also known as a conical flask (BrE) or a titration flask, is a type of laboratory flask
which features a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck. Flasks can be used for making
solutions or for holding, containing, collecting, or sometimes volumetrically measuring chemicals,
samples, solutions, etc.
 Figure 2: Conical Flask

BURETTE: A burette is a graduated glass tube with a tap at one end, for delivering known
volumes of a liquid, especially in titrations. It is a long, graduated glass tube, with a stopcock at
its lower end and a tapered capillary tube at the stopcock's outlet.

Figure 4: Burette
 FUNNEL
Funnels are apparatuses that have been made for use in the chemical laboratory. It is used to
channel liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening.

Figure 5: Funnel

RETORT STAND
A retort stand, sometimes called a clamp stand or a ring stand, is a piece of scientific
equipment to which clamps can be attached to hold other pieces of equipment and glassware –
for instance, burettes, test tubes and flasks.

Figure 6: Retort stand

MEASURING CYLINDER: A measuring cylinder, graduated cylinder or mixing cylinder is a
common piece of laboratory equipment used to measure the volume of a liquid. It has a narrow
cylindrical shape. Each marked line on the graduated cylinder represents the amount of liquid
that has been measured.

Figure 7: Measuring Cylinder

STOPWATCH: Stopwatch is a handheld timepiece designed to measure the amount of time

that elapses between its activation and deactivation.
 Figure 8: stopwatch

VOLUMETRIC FLASKS:A volumetric flask (measuring flask or graduated flask) is a piece

of laboratory apparatus, a type of laboratory flask, calibrated to contain a precise volume at a
certain temperature. Volumetric flasks are used for precise dilutions and preparation of standard
solutions. The Volumetric flask was usedfor precise dilution and preparation of sodium
thiosulphatesolution during the experiment.

Figure 1: volumetric flask

THERMOMETER
A laboratory thermometer, which is colloquially known as lab thermometer, is
used for measuring temperatures other than the human body. It ranges from -
10℃ to 110℃.
 Fig. 12: thermometer

WATER BATH: This is used to heat samples in the lab. Some applications include

maintaining cell lines or heating flammable chemicals that might combust if exposed
to open flame. A water bath generally consists of a heating unit, a stainless steel
chamber that holds the water and samples, and a control interface.

Fig 11:

Fig 11: water bath

EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
PROCEDURES
 500ml of 0.1M solution of potassium iodide was measured.
 Fill the burette with sodium thiosulphate.
 3ml of glacial acetic acid was measured and added to the solution.
 500ml of 0.05M solution of potassium persulphate was measured.
 200ml of potassium iodide and 100ml of potassium persulphate were mixed
and placed in the thermostat and brought to the reaction temperature.
 A stop watch timer was set up
 10ml samples were withdrawn for titration at fixed time intervals of 3, 8, 15,
20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 minutes respectively.
 Sodium thiosulphate was titrated against using 1ml of starch indicator.
 The mixture turned from blue black to colorless then the initial and final
values of the titration were recorded.
 The procedure was carried out at ambient temperature, 40C, 50Cand 60C.
 For each temperature a graph was plotted with time on the x-axis and the
limits on the y-axis. The slope of each graph was also calculated.
RESULTS
Using 10 ml of mixed solution,

1 ml of starch indicator , the following results was obtained.

TABLE 1: Experimental values at 30OC

Time (min) Initial volume (ml) Final volume (ml) Volume used (ml)
3 0.00 1.50 1.50
8 1.50 7.20 5.70
20 7.20 14.40 7.20
30 14.40 22.00 7.60
40 22.00 30.60 8.60

TABLE 2: Experimental values at 40OC

Time(min) Initial volume (ml) Final volume (ml) Volume used (ml)
3 0.00 5.10 5.10
8 5.10 9.00 3.90
20 9.00 17.60 8.60
30 17.60 29.40 11.80
40 29.40 44.40 15.00

TABLE 3: Experimental values at 500C

Time (min) Initial volume (ml) Final volume (ml) Volume used (ml)
3 0.00 5.40 5.40
8 5.40 14.40 9.00
20 14.40 32.50 18.10
30 32.50 48.10 15.60
40 0.00 13.90 13.90
 In(a)/(a-x) VS Time (min)
0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2
In(a)/(a-x)

f(x) = − 0.00631646655231561 x + 0.210592624356775

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Time (min)

DISCUSSION
This experiment was done by using or making a solution of potassium iodide
by dissolving it in 1 L of water and 3 ml of glacial acetic acid was added to 500 ml
0f the potassium solution (0.05 M) to make the solution acidic and also to liberate
the iodine which gave a bluish-black colour on addition of the starch indicator. The
essence of adding glacial acetic acid , potassium persulphate was to liberate iodine.
It was observed during the titration that the blue black colour changed to become
colourless. This therefore meant that a reaction took place between the iodine and
the sodium thiosulphate (Na2S2O3).

At elevated temperature, for instance 50 0C the volume of acid required to

reach end points were smaller than that required to at ambient temperature. This
observation made proves that an increase in temperature increases the rate of a
chemical reaction.

The first graph showed that the rate of formation is proportional to the
concentration of the persulphate ion. The plot showed the straight line
1 1
proportionality of ln( 1−x ) versus time t in minutes. The slope of ln( 1−x ) against
time is called K which is the velocity constant. The slope at 33.5 0C was 0.018 mol-
1
min-1 ,from the elevated temperature, at 400C, K was 0.0125 mol-1min-1 , at 500C,
K was 0.0083 mol-1min-1 and at 600C K was 0.003 mol-1min-1. From these values, it
was observed that the velocity constant at ambient temperature (33.5 0C) was higher
than that of the elevated temperatures.

Table 9 shows that the values of lnk was negative while 1/T was positive.
The graph of lnk against 1/T was plotted, the slope of the graph ln k against 1/T
was calculated to be 7.33 mol-1 min-1 K-1 which was E/RT. Thus the activation
energy E was calculated to be 60.942 KJ/mol from the Arrhenius equation [ lnK =
E/RT + lnA], where lnA which is the intercept was gotten to be 6.10 which further
gave the frequency factor (A) to be 445.86 min-1.

The major problems that was encountered during this experiment was temperature
control, it was quite a difficult task to maintain the elevated temperatures for the
run time (3 min to 60 min) and since heat is constantly lost to the environment
from higher to lower temperature, the temperature was always reducing and timing
(accurate timing) was another problem encountered as the time always exceeded
the given time for mixing. Other errors include human errors, drought, error due to
parallax when taking readings from the burete etc.

During the reaction of potassium persulphate (Na2S2O3), glacial acetic acid

(CH3COOH), and potassium iodide (KI), it was observed that the colour initially
was methyl orange ,then it gradually changed to red. Also, the reaction left a blue
black precipitate colouration when two drops of starch indicator was added. This
thereby confirmed the liberation of iodine from the reaction mixture.
Precautions taken are;

CONCLUSION
From this study ,the aim which was to determine the velocity constants of the
pseudo – first order reaction of potassium persulphate in potassium iodide at the
various temperatures and to calculate the activation energy and frequency factor
was achievied. The velocity constant was gotten to be 445.86 min-1.
Also, from the graph lnk against 1/T (K-1) the slope was determined to be 7.330
mol-1min-1k-1 which is E/R. Thus the activation energy was gotten as 60.942
KJ/mol ,which proved that the reaction of potassium persulphate and potassium
iodide strongly depends on temperature.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are recommended with same aim of the experiment for more
accuracy and time saving; Under all appropriate conditions and precautions, the
results gotten for the experiment should be accurate and standard;

 A constant power source should be made available when using the

equipment such as water bath.
 Students should be advised to read their laboratory manual and also
research on the experiment to enable them carry our the experiment
accurately.

REFFERENCES
 University of benin, department of chemical engineering laboratory
manual.

 Laidler, K. J. Chemical Kinetics(3rd ed., Harper and Row 1987) p.33-39, 42 
 Espenson, J.H. Chemical Kinetics and Reaction Mechanisms (2nd ed., McGraw-Hill
2002), p.254-256 
 Steinfeld J.I., Francisco J.S. and Hase W.L. Chemical Kinetics and Dynamics(2nd ed.,
Prentice-Hall 1999) p.94 – 97, 140

APPENDIX
V1 = volume of the mixed solution

V2 = net value of titer used

C1=concentration of the mixed solution

C2 = concentration of sodium thiosulphate

x = net concentration

T = Time