CHEMICAL KINETICS

This project is based on chemical kine cs

which is an important topic in Physical
Chemistry and basically deals with helping
students understand the different aspects of a
chemical reac on. More specifically, the term
‘kine cs’ deals with the rate of change of
some quan ty. For example, the rate of
change of displacement is given as velocity.
Likewise, accelera on is the rate of change of
velocity.
 CONTENTS

Rate of Forma ons and Disappearances

Factors Affec ng the Reac on Rate
Reac on Rate Formula
Applica ons of chemical kine cs
Rate of Forma ons and Disappearances:
In any chemical reac on, as the reac on proceeds, the
amount of reactants decreases, whereas the amount of
products increases. One has to understand that the
rate of the overall reac on depends on the rate at
which reactants are consumed or the rate at which the
products are formed.

If product concentration is zero at time t = 0,

If a graph is plo ed between the concentra on of
reactants and products and me, the rate of forma on
of products and the rate of disappearance of reactants
can be easily calculated from the slope of curves for
products and reactants. The overall rate of the reac on
may or may not be equal to the rate of forma ons and
disappearances.
RATE OF REACTION FORMULA:

Factors Affec ng the Reac on Rate:

The rate of a reac on can be altered if any of the
following parameters are changed.
1)Concentration of Reactants
According to collision theory, reactant molecules
collide with each other to form products. If the
concentra on of reactants is increased, the number of
colliding par cles will increase, thereby increasing the
rate of reac on.

2)Nature of the Reactants

The reac on rate also depends on the types of
substances that are reac ng. If we consider acid/base
reac ons, salt forma on and ion exchange, they are
mostly fast reac ons. During the forma on of a
covalent bond between the molecules that results in
the forma on of larger molecules, the reac on that
takes place is usually slower. Furthermore, the nature
and strength of bonds in reactant molecules
significantly affect the rate of their transforma on into
products.

3)Physical State of Reactants

The physical state of a reactant, whether it is solid,
liquid or gas, can greatly affect the rate of change. To
discuss it further, if reactants are in the same phase,
let’s say they are in an aqueous solu on, here the
thermal mo on will bring them together. If they are in
different phases, then the reac on will be limited to
the interface between the reactants. The reac on
mainly occurs only at their area of contact, in the case
of a liquid and a gas, at the surface of the liquid.

4)Surface Area of Reactants

If we take two solids, the par cles that are at the
surface will take part in the reac on. Likewise, if we
want to crush a solid into smaller parts, more par cles
will be present at the surface. What it means is that the
frequency of collisions between these and reactant
par cles will most likely increase. As a result, the
reac on will occur more rapidly.
When two or more reactants are in the same phase of
fluid, their par cles collide more o en than when
either or both are in the solid phase or when they are
in a heterogeneous mixture. In a heterogeneous
medium, the collision between the par cles occurs at
an interface between phases. Compared to the
homogeneous case, the number of collisions between
reactants per unit me is significantly reduced, and so
is the reac on rate.

4)Temperature
If the temperature is increased, the number of
collisions between reactant molecules per second
(frequency of collision) increases, thereby increasing
the rate of the reac on. But depending on whether the
reac on is endothermic or exothermic, an increase in
temperature increases the rate of forward or backward
reac ons, respec vely.
In a system where more than one reac on is possible,
the same reactants can produce different products
under different temperature condi ons.
At 100 0C in the presence of dilute sulphuric acid,
diethyl ether is formed from ethanol.

2CH3CH2OH → CH3CH2OCH2CH3+H2O

At 180 0C in the presence of dilute sulphuric acid,

ethylene is the major product.

CH3CH2OH → C2H4+H2O

5)Effect of Solvent
The nature of the solvent also depends on the reac on
rate of the solute par cles.
Example:

When sodium acetates react with methyl iodide, it

gives methyl acetate and sodium iodide.

CH3CO2Na(sol)+CH3I(liq)→CH3CO2CH3(sol)+NaI(sol)

The above reac on occurs faster in organic solvents

such as DMF (dimethylformamide) than in CH3OH
(methanol) because methanol is able to form a
hydrogen bond with CH3CO2 – but DMF is not possible.

6)Catalyst
Catalysts alter the rate of the reac on by changing the
reac on mechanism. There are two types of catalysts,
namely, promoters and poisons, which increase and
decrease the rate of reac ons, respec vely.
A catalyst can be either in solid, liquid or gaseous
forms. Some of the solid catalysts include metals or
their oxides, including sulphides and halides. Semi-
metallic elements such as boron, aluminium and silicon
are also used as catalysts. Further, liquid and gaseous
elements, which are in pure form, are used as catalysts.
Some mes, these elements are also used along with
suitable solvents or carriers.

Applications of chemical kinetics:

 Food decomposition
 Microorganism growth
 Stratospheric ozone decomposition
 Chemistry of biological systems
 Design or modification of chemical reactors to
optimize product yield, more efficiently separate
products, and eliminate environmentally