CHEMICAL

REACTION
 Physical & Chemical changes
 Rate of Reaction
 Factors affecting Rate of Reaction
 Reversible Reactions
PHYSICAL & CHEMICAL CHANGES
 COLLISION
THEORY
• For a chemical reaction to occur:
- Reactant particles must collide with each other
- The particles must have enough energy for them to
react
• The rate of reaction depends on the frequency of
the effective collision.
• To have effective collision:
 The reactant particles MUST have energy ≥ the
activation energy.
 Particles collide in CORRECT ORIENTATION
• Activation energy, Ea: minimum amount of energy
needed to break the bonds in the reactant particles
& form new bonds in the products.
Effective Collision & Rate of Reaction

The higher the frequency of

collision between reactant The higher the frequency of
particles with enough energy EFFECTIVE collision
& in the correct orientation

The higher the rate of

reaction
 RATE OF A REACTION
The rate of the reaction
shows how quickly the
reaction happens. SPEED RATE COMPLETION TIME
Quick/ fast HIGH Short
Slow LOW Long

Slow
Fast reaction reaction
 RATE OF REACTION
• Some chemical reactions are fast and some reactions are slow.
 • A measure of change in reaction takes
place in unit time.
RATE OF • Can be the mass or volume. Any unit of
time can be used (e.g. second, minute,
REACTION hour)

- A measure of • In Chemistry, we measure rate of reaction

by measuring:

how fast or 1) The amount of reactants used up per unit

of time
slow chemical 2) The amount of products formed per unit
of time
reaction
happens.
In school labs,
we usually use

1)Water
displacement
method to collect
gas
2)gas syringe
system
Graph of Change of quantity of Reactants and Products
against Time
LOSS IN MASS DURING REACTION

- The rate of reaction AT ANY POINT can be

calculated from the gradient of the curve.

- The shape of the curve can be divided

into 3 regions:

1) The steepest curve (HIGHEST

GRADIENT) = Highest rate
2) Curve is not as steep (LOWER
GRADIENT) = Lower rate
- Fewer reacting particles are present

3) Horizontal curve (GRADIENT ZERO)=

The reaction is COMPLETE
- At least one of the reactants has been
completely used up
 Measuring rate of reaction

1) The overall average rate of reaction

2) The average rate of reaction for the first t1 seconds

3) The average rate from t1 to t2:

4) Instantaneous rate of reaction = gradient of tangent at a

particular time
 Example 2

Time 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
(minutes)
Volume of gas 0 14 23 32 38 42 46 46
(cm3)

Table 1 shows the volume of carbon dioxide released when

excess calcium carbonate is added to hydrochloric acid each
minute.
 
a) Plot a graph of the volume of carbon dioxide gas collected
against time
Volume of gas, Draw the tangent at 1 minute
cm3 and find its gradient.

50 Read the length from the

graph

40

30

Gradient is positive because the

20 amount of product increases with time

At the beginning, the

10 slope is very steep,
so rate of reaction is
high
Time,
min
 Sample Question

Table 4 shows the total volume of oxygen gas, O2 produced in the decomposition
reaction of hydrogen peroxide, H2O2
Time/s 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Volume of 0.00 18.00 27.50 35.00 41.50 46.50 50.00 50.00 50.00
O2/cm3

1) What is the overall rate of reaction?

2) What is the rate of reaction in the first 2 minutes?
3) What is the average rate of reaction in the 2nd minute?
4) What is the rate of reaction at 120seconds?
WHAT CAN CHANGE
RATE OF REACTION?
 Concentration
Factors (solution)
Temperature

affecting Rate
of Reaction
Particle Size
Catalyst
(solid)

Light
CONCENTRATION OF SOLUTION
• The rate of reaction is higher when
- The concentration of reactant particles is
higher
- There are more reactant particles are
present in the same volume / no.of particles
per unit volume increases
- So the particles are closer together, more
likely to meet and react.
- The frequency of collisions between
particles increases, thus the number of
effective collisions between particles also
increases.
- Concentrated solution contains more particles of
solute per unit volume than dilute solution.
 TEMPERATURE
- At higher temperature;
 the kinetic energy of reactant
particles increases
More particles have energy to
overcome the activation
energy
Frequency of effective
collisions between particles
increases
Rate of reaction increases.
 PARTICLE SIZE
• The rate of reaction is higher when
Size of solid reactant is smaller.
When large piece of reactant is
broken up into smaller pieces, the
total surface area is larger.
Total surface area exposed for
collisions between the particles of
the reactants increases.
The frequency of collisions
increases.
Higher frequency for effective
collisions.
 TOTAL SURFACE AREA
Calcium Carbonate with same mass

Reaction of hydrogen ion

Calcium Carbonate
Lump

Calcium Carbonate
Powder
CATALYST
• A catalyst is a substance that
changes the rate of reaction,
but it does not undergo any
chemical change.
• Doesn’t affect amount of products
or type of products formed.
• Example : Decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 happens
very slow. To speed up, a small
amount of manganese (IV) oxide,
MnO2.
2 H2O2 (l) → 2H2O (l) + O2 (g)
In the presence of
catalyst,
The catalyst provides an alternative
pathway by lowering the activation
energy

More reactant particles can achieve the

lower activation energy

The frequency of effective collisions

between the particles increases

The rate of reaction increases

Characteristics of a catalyst
Doesn’t change Unchanged
amount of products chemically at the
formed in a end of the
reaction reaction

However, it could It’s not ‘used up’ in

be changed the reaction. The
physically (e.g. amount of catalyst is
granules becomes the same before and
powder) end of the reaction.

Only a small
It is specific amount of
for a reaction. catalyst is
needed.

Could be less
effective when
there are
impurities.
CATALYST IN
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRIAL PROCESS CATALYST USED

Manufacture of ethanol Phosphoric acid

Manufacture of ammonia Iron

Manufacture of sulfuric acid Vanadium (V) oxide

Cracking long-chain alkanes Silica / alumina

Past Paper Example
 LIGHT
-Light energy can speed up some chemical
reactions
PHOTOGRAPHY:
The film in a camera is coated in a film consisting
of silver salts
Salts: AgCl, AgBr, AgI
All of these salts are SENSITIVE to light
When light hits the film, the silver ions in the
salts are reduced by gaining electrons

Light energy speeds up this reduction process

 Developing the negatives
• Negatives; show dark & light patches
• The darker areas have received most light &
contain more silver
• The lighter areas have received least light &
least silver
• The film with its silver salts need to be kept
in the dark, but even then they very slowly
change to silver
Photosynthesis
Initiated by the light absorbed by the
chlorophyll molecules.
REVERSIBL
E
REACTIONS
 Some reactions go to completion, where the
reactants are used up to form the product
molecules and the reaction stops when all of the
reactants are used up

In reversible reactions, the product molecules can

REVERSIBLE, ⇌ themselves react with each other or decompose
and form the reactant molecules again

It is said that the reaction can occur

in both directions: the forward reaction (which
forms the products) and the reverse direction
(which forms the reactants)
EXAMPLES
• Heating hydrated salts
hydrated copper sulfate ⇌ anhydrous
copper sulfate + water
CuSO4.5H2O(s) ⇌ CuSO4(s) + H2O(l)

- Blue copper sulfate is described

as hydrated. The copper ions in its crystal
lattice structure are surrounded by
water molecules.
- This water is driven off when blue
hydrated copper sulfate is heated, leaving
white anhydrous copper sulfate.
CoCl2.6H2O(s) ⇌ CoCl2(s) + 6H2O

•\
NH4Cl(s) ⇌ NH3(g) + HCl(g)
 EQUILIBRIUM
REACTIONS
DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM (A
moving equilibrium)
• Equilibrium is reached when
the rates of forward and
backward reactions are the
SAME.
• Once a reaction has reached
the equilibrium, the
concentration of reactants &
products don’t change.
CHANGING THE
POSITION OF
EQUILIBRIUM
You want to make a particular products, but as soon as it forms, it
starts
🤦🏻‍️ to change back to the reactants!‍♀️

FORTUNATELY, scientists have found ways of increasing the

yield in a reversible reaction.

• We can change the position of equilibriums to favor products over

reactants

Concentrations Temperature Pressure

 CONCENTRATION;

A(g) + 2B(g) ⇌ 2C(g) ∆H positive

CHANGE MADE EFFECT ON THE METHOD OF PREDICTING
EQUILIBRIUM POSITION THE EFFECT

INCREASING the concentration Moves to the right-hand side The equilibrium moves in the
of A or B direction that REDUCES the [A]
or [B]. It does this by converting A
& B into C.

DECREASING the concentration Moves to the right-hand side The equilibrium moves in the
of C direction that INCREASES the
[C]. It does this by converting A &
B into C.
 TEMPERATURE;
A(g) + 2B(g) ⇌ 2C(g) ∆H positive
CHANGE MADE EFFECT ON THE METHOD OF PREDICTING
EQUILIBRIUM POSITION THE EFFECT

INCREASING the temperature of
the reaction
Moves to the right-hand side
The equilibrium moves in the
direction that absorbs heat energy
(i.e. ENDOTHERMIC)
The forward reaction is
endothermic, so it’s favored.
A & B are converted into C
 PRESSURE;
A(g) + 2B(g) ⇌ 2C(g) ∆H positive

CHANGE MADE EFFECT ON THE METHOD OF PREDICTING

EQUILIBRIUM POSITION THE EFFECT

INCREASING the pressure of the
reaction
Moves to the right-hand side
The equilibrium moves in the
direction that produces FEWER
molecules/moles of gas on the
right side.
It does this by converting A & B
into C.
 Example
Sulfur dioxide reacts with oxygen to make sulfur trioxide in a reversible
reaction: 2SO2(s) + O2(g) ⇌2SO3(g)

1. Predict the effect of decreasing the concentration of oxygen

2. Predict the effect of increasing the pressure.

 Give it a go!
• Describe how each of the following changes affects this equilibrium
reaction:

- Increasing the pressure

- Increasing the concentration of CO (g)
- Decreasing the concentration of