UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2019/2020 ACADEMIC YEAR

3RD YEAR EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF

EDUCATION

INSTITUTIONAL BASED PROGRAMME

COURSE CODE/ TITLE: SCH B302: CHEMICAL KINETICS

END OF SEMESTER II DURATION: 2 HRS

DAY/TIME: TUESDAY 9.00 - 11.00AM DATE: 15/12/20 (SBN 339)

Useful Data
(R = 0.0821 atmdm3K-1mol-1 = 8.314 J mol-1 K-1, NA = 6.02 X 1023)
Answer all questions
Question one (17 mks)

a) Distinguish between the following;

i) Rate constant and equilibrium constant (2mks)
ii) Kinetic control and thermodynamic control (2mks
iii) Pre-equilibrium approximation and steady state
approximation (4mks)
b) A reaction between P and Q is 3/2 order in P and order -1 in Q. Give the
rate expression, and find the units of k (assume time in seconds)(3mks)
c) For a certain reaction the value of the rate constant is 5.0 X 10-3dm3mol-1s-1,
determine the value of rate constant in the following units;
(i) dm3molecule-1s-1 (3mks)
3 -1 -1
(ii) cm mol s (3mks)
Question two (26 mks)
a) state one applicability of second order kinetics (1mk)

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 b) state and mention the importance of Eyring equation (2mks)
c) The initial concentration of a reactant in first-order reaction is 1.25M. The
rate constant k is 0.02min-1
i) What will be the concentration after 1.5hrs (2mks)
ii) How long will it take the concentration to be reduced to 0.50M
(2mks)
d) A reaction has a third order rate law with k = 3.50 x 10 dm mol-2s-1 .
-4 6

calculate the time required for the concentration of A to change from

0.077moldm-3 to 0.021moldm-3 (4mks)
2A P
e) A second order reaction with initial concentration of each reactant as 0.5
moldm-3 was carried out in presence of an acid as a catalyst. At pH 4.0 the
half-life of reaction was found to be 60 minutes. Calculate the observed and
true rate constant for the reaction. (6mks)
f) Use the following data to demonstrate the impossibility of distinguishing
between first, second and zero orders. Determine the percentage of
reaction for this data? (10mks)
ΡN2O 100.0 91.8 81.0 75.2 67.7 60.9
mmHg
t/min 0 10 20 30 40 50

Question three (27 mks)

a) Discriminate between parallel and consecutive reactions (2mks)

b) List two methods of carrying out kinetic experiments (2mks)
c) Why is transition state theory preferred over collision theory (3mks)
d) Find the initial rate of an enzyme, given that, the concentration of the
substrate used is enough to produce half of enzyme’s maximum rate of
20M/s, if the [E]t is 2M, determine the Kcat as well.
e) The following kinetic data were obtained from a reaction with the rate law
Rate = k[A][B], at different temperatures
Temp (oC) [A]/M [B]/M Rate/Ms-1 k/M-1s-1
15 0.015 0.030 2.70 X 10-8
30 0.015 0.015 2.16 X 10-7

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 65 0.030 0.030 9.18 X 10-6
90 0.030 0.015 3.52 X 10-5
Complete the table, compute the frequency of collisions and activation
energy of the reaction (6mks)
f) In a reaction when initial concentration doubles, the half-life is reduced to
half. Deduce the order of a reaction (3mks)
g) In the reaction below;
2NO + O2 2NO2
The following mechanism was proposed;
k1
2NO N2O2

k-1
N2O2 2NO

k2
N2O2 + O2 2NO2
Confirm that,
d [ NO2 ] 2k1k 2 [ NO]2 [O2 ]
 (5mks)
dt k 1  k 2 [O2 ]

h) At 400K, the half-life for decomposition of a sample of a gaseous compound

initially at 55.5KPa was 340s. When the pressure was 28.9KPa, the half-life
was 178s. Determine the order of the reaction. (4mks)

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