Chapter 9

9.1 Reaction kinetics

1. Rate of a reaction – A measure of the rate at which reactants are used up or the rate at which
products are formed. The unit of the rate are mol dm -3 s-1.

2. For example, if a reaction gives off a gas, we can measure the volume of gas released in the
course of the reaction at regular time intervals.

Collision theory
1. Unsuccessful collision
 Reactant particles collide they may simply bounce off each other, without changing.
 Colliding particles do not have enough energy to react.

2.

Successful (or effective) collision

 Reactant particles have enough energy to react, they may change into product particles when
they collide.

3.

Activation energy – The minimum energy that colliding particles must possess for a successful
collision that result in a reaction to take place.

4. According to the collision theory, a reaction will speed up if:

 the frequency of collisions increases
 the proportion of particles with energy greater than the activation energy increases.

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5. Catalyst – A substance that increase the rate of a reaction but remains chemically unchanged
itself at the end of the reaction.

9.2 The effect of

concentration on rate of reaction
1. The more concentrated a solution, the greater the number of particles of solute dissolved in a
given volume of solvent.
2. Increase the concentrated reactants increase the rate of reaction.
 The random motion of the particles in solution results in more frequent collisions between
reacting particles.
3. Increase the pressure of reacting gases increase the rate of reaction.
 More gas molecules in a given volume.
 More collisions in any given time.

9.3 The effect of

temperature on rate of reaction
1. Boltzmann distribution – A graph showing the distribution of energies of the particles in a
sample at a given temperature.

2. Increase the temperature of a

reaction mixture
 average kinetic (movement)
energy of the particles increases
 particles in solution and in gases will move around more quickly
 more frequent collisions.
3. Increase the temperature, the proportion of successful collisions increases greatly.

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4. The distribution of molecular energies changes as we raise the temperature.

 The curve showing the

Boltzmann distribution at the
higher temperature flattens and the peak shifts to the right.
 The shaded area shows the number of particles with energy greater than the activation energy.
5. Increasing the temperature increases the rate of reaction because:
 the increased energy results in particles moving around more quickly, which increases the
frequency of collisions
 the proportion of successful collisions (i.e. those that result in a reaction) increases because
the proportion of particles exceeding the activation energy increases. This is the more
important factor.
9.4 Catalysis
1.

 The presence of a
catalyst does not affect the shape of the Boltzmann distribution.
 Providing a lower activation energy, a greater proportion of molecules in the reaction mixture
have sufficient energy to react.
 The shaded area under the curve represents the numbers of molecules that have energy greater
than the activation energy of the reaction.

Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts

1. Homogeneous catalyst – A catalyst and the reactants in a catalysed reaction are in the same
phase.
2. For example,
 catalyst is dissolved in water and the reactants are also present as an aqueous solution.
3. Heterogeneous catalyst – Catalyst is in a different phase to the reactants.
4. For example,
 Used to make oxygen.

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 This is a very slow reaction at room temperature.

 A little of the
insoluble solid manganese(IV) oxide powder, MnO2(s), is added, oxygen is given off quickly.

 At the end of the reaction, when no

more gas is being released, the solid catalyst can be recovered by filtering off the water.
9.5 Enzymes
1. Enzymes are biological catalysts.
2. In common with inorganic catalysts, enzymes:
 speed up a reaction without being used up
 provide an alternative reaction pathway with a lower activation energy

3. However, enzyme catalysis has some

specific features:
 enzymes are more efficient than inorganic catalysts; the reaction rate is often increased by a
factor of 106 to 1012
 enzymes are very specific; they usually only catalyse one particular reaction
 as a consequence of this specificity, enzymes do not produce byproducts
 enzymes work under very mild conditions; for example 35 °C, pH 7, atmospheric pressure
 the amount of enzyme present in a cell can be regulated according to need.
4. Substrate – a molecule that fits into the active site of an enzyme and reacts.
5. For examples,

 Urea is the substrate, because it fits onto the surface of the enzyme molecule.

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 Water reacts with the urea, but only when the urea is bound to the enzyme molecule.