6.

Rate of reaction
Table of Content
A. Rate of reaction
Collision energy!
1. Factors effect the rate of reaction
- Increasing the temperature increases Rate
- Increasing the Concentration (or Pressure) increases Rate
- Smaller solid particles increases rate
- A Catalyst increases the Rate of a Reaction
2. Investigation reaction rates
- Method 1: Measuring changes in mass
- Method 2: Collecting gas
3. Interpreting data
- Worked Examples:
B. Reversible reactions & Equilibrium
1. Reversible reactions
2. Equilibrium
3. Le Chatelier’s Principle
4. The Haber process
Stages:
Explain the conditions for Haber process
The usage of 450°C
The usage of 200atm
The usage of catalyst
5. The Contact process
C. Redox reactions

A. Rate of reaction
Key term
The rate of reaction is how fast the reactants are changed into products.

Collision energy!
Particles must Collide with Enough Energy in order to React.
Collision resulting a chemical reaction is successful.
Collision not resulting a chemical reaction is unsuccessful.
1. Factors effect the rate of reaction
There are several factors that effect the rate of reaction:
Temperature
Concentration (aqueous solution) or Pressure (gas)
Surface area (solid)
The use of Catalyst.

Increasing the temperature increases Rate

1. Higher temperature increase the kinetic energy of the particles (they move faster), which
increases the energy of the collisions.
2. This means there'll be more successful collisions (more particles will collide with enough
energy to react)

Increasing the Concentration (or Pressure) increases Rate

1. Increasing the concentration (aqueous) or pressure (gas) increases the rate of reaction.
 2. If a solution is made more concentrated it means there are more particles of reactant in
the same unit of volume. This makes collisions more likely, so the reaction rate increases.
3. In a gas, increasing the pressure means that the particles are more crowded (more
particles in the same volume).

Smaller solid particles increases rate

1. Increasing the surface area to volume ratio of a reactant means that the particles around
it will have more surface to collide with, so the frequency of collisions will increase.

A Catalyst increases the Rate of a Reaction

1. Catalyst is a substance increasing the rate of reaction by lower the activation energy
without participating in the reaction.
Enzymes is a biological catalyst which speed up the chemical reactions in living cell.

2. Investigation reaction rates

To find out the rate of a reaction, we need to monitor how quickly the reactants are used up
or how rapidly the products are formed. To investigate the rate of a reaction , we can employ
various techniques, including:
Measuring the change in mass of a reactant or a product.
 Measuring the amount of gas formed.

Equation
Rate of reaction = Change in amount of reactant ÷ Time taken
Rate of reaction = Change in amount of product ÷ Time taken

Method 1: Measuring changes in mass

1. You can measure the rate of a reaction that produces a gas using a mass balance.
2. As the gas is released, the lost mass is easily measured on the balance. The quicker the
reading on the balance drop, the faster the reaction.
3. You know the reaction has finished when the reading on the balance stops changing.
4. You can use your result to plot a graph of change in mass against time.
5. Unit: g/s.
Cons: This method is not suitable for hydrogen and other gases with a small relative formula
mass, Mr as the loss in mass may be too small to measure.

Method 2: Collecting gas

 1. There're two ways to collect gas shown in the images.
2. The way using the syringe to measure the gas volume can be used with any gas.
3. The way letting gases to go under water and bubble off needs to be used with only
insoluble gases.
4. You can tell the reaction has finished when no more gas is produced.
5. You can use your results to plot a graph of gas volume against time taken.
6. Unit: cm3/s.
Cons:
Using syringe: Need to find a suitable size of syringe. If the reaction produce too much
gas, then the plunger can be blowed out.
Letting gases go under water: Only works with insoluble gases, not suitable for reactions
generating large amounts of gas rapidly, as it can result in overflow and inaccuracies.

3. Interpreting data
Data recorded in rate studies is used to plot graphs to calculate the rate of reaction.
Over time the rate of reaction slows as the reactants are being used up so the line
becomes less steep and eventually becomes horizontal, indicating the reaction has
finished
 Worked Examples:

B. Reversible reactions & Equilibrium

1. Reversible reactions
 Reversible Reactions can go in Either Direction.
A Reaction in which the reactants combine to form products and the products can
also react together to form the original reactants.
In reversible reactions, if the reaction is endothermic in one direction, it will be
exothermic in the other.
The direction of the reaction depends one the reaction conditions - changing the
reaction conditions, for example by heating or adding water, can change the
direction of the reaction.

The reversible reaction of Copper (II) Sulfate:

If you heat blue hydrated copper sulfate crystals, it drives the water off and leaves white
anhydrous copper power. This is Endothermic.
If you then add a couple of drops of water to the white power you get the blue hydrated
solid back. this is Exothermic.

2. Equilibrium
Key terms
When during the course of reaction, the rate of the forward reaction is equal the rate of
the reverse reaction, then the overall reaction is in a state of equilibrium.
 Equilibrium is Dynamic (the molecules in the left and the right of the equation are
changing into each other by chemical reaction constantly and at the same rate)
It only occurs in a closed system (Reactants and products can't escape).

3. Le Chatelier’s Principle
When a change is made to the conditions of a system at equilibrium, the system
automatically moves to oppose the change.
Base on that, we can predict changes to the position of equilibrium moves in the direction
which has the smallest amount of gaseous molecules.
The effect of Temperature of Equilibrium
 The effect of Pressure on Equilibrium
Reminder: The same molecules of any gas has the same volume

Example:
2NO2 ⇌ N2O4

The effect of Concentration on Equilibrium

The effect of Catalyst on Equilibrium

The presence of a catalyst does not affect the position of equilibrium but it does increase
the rate at which equilibrium is reached.
4. The Haber process
Haber process is a reversible process to produce Ammonia (which is very important).
The reactants of this process are Nitrogen (which can be found in air) and Hydrogen (the
reaction of hydrocarbon and steam).
The Haber process is taken in 450°C and 200atm (atmospheres).

Stages:
1. H2 and N2 are obtained from methane and the air respectively and are pumped into the
compressor through pipe.
2. The gases are compressed to about 200atm inside the compressor.
3. The pressurised gases are pumped into a tank containing layers of catalytic iron beds at a
temperature of 450°C. Some of the hydrogen and nitrogen react to form ammonia:
4. Unreacted H2 and N2 and the product ammonia (NH3) pass into a cooling tank. The
ammonia is liquefied and removed to pressurised storage vessels.
5. The unreacted H2 and N2 gases are recycled back into the system and start over again.
Explain the conditions for Haber process
The conditions for Haber process is 450°C and 200atm (bonus the usage of Iron
catalyst).
We can explain the conditions for Haber process in 3 ways:
Percentage Yield
Rate of reaction
Cost

The usage of 450°C

Percentage yield and rate of reaction:
The conversion of Nitrogen and Hydrogen to Ammonia is Exothermic, and the
reverse reaction converting Ammonia to Nitrogen and Hydrogen is Endothermic.
To get the best percentage yield, the temperature must be low for the reaction to go
in exothermic way.
 However, particles need plenty of energy in order to react (Ea), and to archive a
higher rate of reaction. So the temperature must not be so cold.
450°C is taken as the default temperature because it balance the yield and rate of reaction.
The usage of 200atm
Percentage yield:
The molecules in the right side (2) are less than the molecules in the left side (3), so
a higher pressure will make the reaction shifts to the right, therefore increase the
percentage yield.
Rate of reaction:
Higher pressure means the amount of particles in a fixed area increase, so the
particles collide more frequently and increase the rate of reaction.
Cost:
Generating high pressure is very expensive.
High pressure is not safe for us.
Because of these, the pressure is limited to 200atm.

The usage of catalyst

Catalyst boost the reaction rate by decreasing the activation energy.
Catalyst don't effect the position of the reaction, because it boost the speed for both
forward and backward reaction by the same amount.

5. The Contact process

C. Redox reactions