INNOVA JUNIOR COLLEGE JC2 CHEMISTRY 2012 REACTION KINETICS PRACTICAL

TEACHERS COPY

NAME : __________________________ CG : ___________ DATE : ____________

Subject : Worksheet RK1:

Chemistry To determine the rate equation for the reaction: 2H+(aq) + S2O32 (aq) S (s) + SO2 (g) + H2O (l)

Duration : 1 hr 15 min

FA 1 is an aqueous solution containing 0.4 mol dm-3 aqueous sodium thiosulfate(VI). FA 2 is an aqueous solution containing 2.0 mol dm-3 aqueous hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid reacts with sodium thiosulfate(VI) to produce yellow precipitate of sulfur. 2H+ (aq) + S2O32 (aq) S (s) + SO2 (g) + H2O (l) The rate equation for the reaction is: Rate = k[H+] [S2O32 ]
x
y

where x and y are the orders or reaction with respect to H+ and S2O32- respectively.

You are to determine the rate equation for the reaction between sodium thiosulfate (VI) and hydrochloric acid by determining the order of reaction with respect to sodium thiosulfate (VI) and hydrochloric acid.

You will determine the order of reaction for each reactant by varying the concentration of each species in turn, keeping the other reactant constant. The reaction can be observed using the precipitated sulfur which causes the solution to become opaque. The rate can be determined by measuring the time taken for a cross drawn on a piece of blank paper and placed under the reaction vessel to become obscured.

You are advised to read parts (a) to (i) before starting practical work.

Safety
1

You must wear safety eye protection throughout this experiment.

2.0 mol dm-3 of HCl is an irritant and corrosive. Wash all spillages with plenty of water.

SO2 is a choking gas which is toxic. Ensure good ventilation. Take care not to inhale the fumes. Asthmatics need to be particularly careful.

Sulfur is poisonous. Flush sink with lots of water during washing!

Experiments 1 to 4 (Varying the concentration of Na2S2O3) (a)Using a 100 cm3 measuring cylinder, measure 40 cm3 of FA 1. Pour the 40 cm3 of FA 1 into the 250 cm3 beaker and stand the beaker over a cross. Measure 30 cm3 of FA 2 into the other 100 cm3 measuring cylinder provided. Pour the 30 cm3 of FA 2 into the 250 cm3 beaker containing the FA 1 solution, simultaneously starting the stopwatch. Note the time taken, to the nearest second, for the cross to become obscured by the sulfur produced in the reaction. (Discard the reaction and wash the beaker immediately) Tabulate your results in the Table 1 below.

(b) Rinse the beaker and place 30 cm3 of FA 1 into the beaker from a measuring cylinder, together with 10 cm3 of distilled water from another measuring cylinder. 2

 Measure a further 30 cm3 of FA 2 into the other measuring cylinder and pour this into the 250 cm3 beaker, noting the time taken for the cross to be obscured by the sulfur. Repeat the experiment with different volumes of FA1 and water (as shown in Table 1).

Experiments 5 to 7 (Varying the concentration of HCl) (c) Repeat the experiment using 30 cm3 of FA 1 and the volume of water as shown in the table. Add the volume of FA 2 as shown in the table and note the time taken for the cross to be obscured by the sulfur. Enter your result in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Experiment Volume of FA 2 / cm3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 30 30 30 30 40 20 10 Volume of FA 1 / cm3 40 30 20 10 30 30 30 Volume of water / cm3 0 10 20 30 0 20 30 Time / s

1 / s-1 Time
8 11 17 39 10 12 14 0.125 0.0909 0.0588 0.0256 0.1 0.0833 0.0714 320 330 340 390 [2]

Rate

Vt

(d) Write an expression to show how the volume of S2O32- (V S 2O2 ) is related to the concentration 3 of S2O32- in the total volume (VT) of reaction mixture. Hence, conclude why it is important to keep the total volume of the reaction mixture constant. [2] Concentration of S2O32-

V S O 2
2 3

VT

[1]

It is important to keep the total volume of the reaction mixture constant to compare the concentrations of S2O32- easily for the various experiments [1].

(e) State and explain how increasing the volume of reactants will affect the rate of reaction and the time taken for sulfur to be formed. [2] Increasing the volume of reactants will increase the concentrations of the reactants. Thus the number of reactant particles increases. Frequency of effective collisions taking place in the reaction increases. [1] Since the rate of reaction is proportional to the frequency of effective collisions, the rate of reaction increases. The time taken for sulfur to be formed will decrease. [1] 3

Rate

1 where t = time taken for first appearance of sulfur t

(f) For Experiment 1 and 2, determine the order of reaction with respect to sodium thiosulphate and hydrochloric acid. [4] For Experiment 1, Vt is about constant PDO [1] OR When the volume of thiosulfate (FA1) is doubled, the rate is doubled. PDO [1] Hence Rate concentration Order of reaction with respect to sodium thiosulphate = 1 For Experiment 2, Rate = k ACE [1]

1 =k Time
Time is constant. PDO [1] OR When volume of acid (FA2) is doubled, rate remains unchanged. PDO [1] Order of reaction with respect to hydrochloric acid = 0 ACE[1]

(g) Suggest a graphical method to determine the order of reaction with respect to the two reactants. Explain the reason behind the graphs chosen. [2]

1 against volume. PDO [1] Time 1 This is because Rate and Volume of reactant Concentration of reactant. PDO [1] Time
The graph to plot will be (h) State the rate equation. Rate = k[H+] [S2O32 ]
0
1

[1] ACE [1]

(i) Suggest 2 possible sources of error in this experiment, and suggest improvements that could be made to overcome these errors. [4]

Error 1: It is difficult in deciding when to stop timing for the sulfur precipitate to form as the time at which the first precipitate of sulfur appears is quite ambiguous. In this context, we take that the same amount of sulfur is produced each time we first see the yellow colour of sulfur appearing. Improvement 1: A data logger with colourimeter could be used to determine more accurately the amount of sulfur produced through the use of a suitable probe to measure the colour intensity (which is proportional to the concentration of sulfur produced). That is when colour intensity 4

reaches a certain value (or when a certain amount of sulfur is produced), time will be noted accurately and when to stop timing. Error 2: Temperature may not be kept constant for the reaction to take place. This will affect the rate of reaction and cause the time taken for the precipitate of sulphur to appear to be inaccurate. Improvement 2: There are possible measures to reduce heat lost to surroundings such as perform the experiment in a wind-free room or carry out the experiment in a water bath with a controlled temperature. Error 3: Human reaction time in starting and stopping the stop watch will affect the time recorded for the sulfur to be formed. Improvement 3: Repeat the experiments to obtain average values.

Error 4: The time taken for the reaction is short which results in significant error due to human reaction time. This usually occurs if the amount of sulfur produced is small. Improvement 4: Use a slightly lower concentration of S2O32- as it will increase the reaction time. This will reduce the percentage error. However the time taken should not be too long as the experiment will not provide a good estimate to the initial rate.

(j) Suggest reason(s) why the order of reaction (x and y) with respect to H+ and S2O32 cannot be obtained from the stoichiometric equation directly. [1] The reaction is not an elementary reaction. Hence the rate equation is based on the ratedetermining step of the multiple-step mechanism.

(k) Given the table below, estimate the time taken for the sulfur to obscure the cross. Hence explain how the rate of reaction is affected by the increase in temperature. [2]

Experiment 1 2
Fraction of particles

Volume of HCl / cm3 30 30

Volume of Na2S2O3 / cm3 40 40

Temp 30 40

Time/ s 8 <8

Low T The time taken for the sulfur to obscure the cross will be less than 8 seconds. [1]

Fraction of particles with E Ea at high T

Fraction of particles with E Ea at particles to increase. An increase in temperature will cause the average kinetic energyof the low T High T

There is an increase in the fraction of molecules with energy equal to or greater than the activation energy. Frequency of effective collisions taking place in the reaction increases. Since rate of reaction is proportional to the frequency of effective collisions, rate of reaction increases. [1]

5 0

Ea

Energy, E