S6 LAB CHEMISTRY

PRACTICE QUESTIONS: CHEMICAL KINETICS

a) (i) Define rate of a reaction.

The speed at which a chemical reaction proceeds
(ii) What is meant by the activation energy of a reaction?
The amount of free energy that must be added to go from the energy level of the reactants to
the energy level of the transition state.

b) The decomposition of nitrogen dioxide, described by the reaction below, was carried out in a
closed vessel at 300oC. Table 1 shows the molar concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and oxygen
(expressed in millimol dm-3) at a set of common times during the reaction.
2 NO2 (g) 2 NO (g) + O2 (g) ΔH /kJ mol-1 = + 114.4

Table 1:

Time (s) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Concn NO2 10 7.9 6.5 5.5 4.8 4.3 3.8
(mmol dm-3)
Concn O2 0 1.1 1.8 2.3 2.6 2.9 3.1
(mmol dm-3)

(i) On the same sheet of graph paper (last page of the question paper), and using the same
axes, draw graphs to show how the concentrations of NO2 and O2 vary with time.
(ii) Find the instantaneous rate of the decomposition in mmol dm-3 s-1 of NO2 at 100 seconds
(iii) Suggest a reason why NO is not formed in every collision of a pair of NO2 molecules.
(iv) State one way of increasing the frequency of collisions.

d) Hydrogen peroxide solution decomposes rapidly in the presence of a suitable catalyst, powdered
manganese(IV)oxide, according to the following equation:

2H2O2(l) → 2H2O(l) + O2(g)

In an experiment using this reaction, the oxygen gas was collected and its volume measured every
two minutes until the reaction was complete. The data obtained is shown in the table.

Time / min 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Volume O2 / cm3 0.0 31 55 74 87 95 99 100 100

(i) What is a catalyst?

A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction
(ii) Is the catalyst used in the above reaction homogeneous or heterogeneous? Justify your
answer.
(iii) Explain how a catalyst works.
(iv) Plot a graph of the volume of oxygen gas produced against time.
(v) Why does the rate of oxygen production decrease as time passes?
(vi) Use the graph to estimate the volume of oxygen gas collected during the first 3 minutes.
(vii) Use the graph to determine the instantaneous rate at 7 minutes.