DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

CHE 244
Experiment No.: 1

Experiment title: INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF A

CATALYST ON THE RATE OF A CHEMICAL REACTION

Surname: Seidisa
First name: Thabiso
ID number: 202103443

Day: Thursday

Date of the Experiment: 16 February 2023

Partner’s name and ID:
Aim of the experiment

 The aim of the experiment is to determine the effect of a catalyst on the rate of the
reaction of iodine ion, I- (aq), with the peroxodisulphate ion, S2O82- (aq).

Apparatus used

 Water bath
 Conical flasks
 Pipettes
 Beakers
 Burette

Pre-lab questions

1. What is the effect of a catalyst on a chemical reaction?

 It increases the rate of a chemical reaction without, it does this by offering an
alternative reaction path of lower activation energy than the uncatalyzed reaction.

2. I) Write the Arrhenius equation in both its Normal and Logarithmic form, define all terms.
 Normal Arrhenius equation;

K = Ae-Ea/RT

K = Rate constant
A = Pre-exponential factor
Ea = Activation energy
R = Universal gas constant
T = Absolute temperature (in Kelvin)

 Logarithmic form of the Arrhenius equation

Ea
lnK = lnA - RT
  Definition of terms
Rate constant is the proportionality constant in the equation that expresses the
relationship between the rate of a chemical reaction and the concentrations of the reacting
substances.
Activation energy is the minimum energy required to cause a process (such as a
chemical reaction) to occur.
Universal gas constant defined as Avogadro's number NA times the Boltzmann constant
k.
ii) Use the Arrhenius equation to explain the effect of an increase in temperature on the
rate of a reaction
 As temperature increases, it results in an increase the rate of chemical reactions
iii) from the Arrhenius equation what effect would a lowering of activation energy have
on the rate of a chemical reaction?
 The rate constant of a reaction increases exponentially when the activation energy
decreases. Because the rate of a reaction is directly proportional to the rate constant of
a reaction, the rate increases exponentially as well.

3. For a reaction at 303K with activation energy of 58 KJ/mol, by what factor will the rate
constant change when the temperature rises by 10oC?