Rate (speed) of reaction

What is a rate of reaction?

• The rate of a reaction is a measure of how quickly a reactant is used

up, or a product is formed.
Rate of reaction = = =

Rate of reaction =
Measuring the rate of a reaction
• A reaction that produces a gas
The rate of a reaction is found by measuring the amount of a reactant
used up per unit of time, or the amount of a product produced per unit
of time. Look at this reaction:

Here hydrogen is the easiest substance to measure, because it is the

only gas in the reaction. It bubbles off and can be collected in a gas
syringe, where its volume is measured.
• The experiment
• Clean the magnesium with sandpaper. Put
dilute hydrochloric acid in the flask. Drop the
magnesium into the flask, and insert the
stopper and syringe immediately. Start the
clock at the same time.
• Hydrogen begins to bubble off. It rises up the
flask and into the gas syringe, pushing the
plunger out:

• The volume of gas in the syringe is noted at

intervals – for example every half a minute.
How will you know when the reaction is
complete?
This table shows some typical results for the experiment. You can
tell quite a lot from this table. For example, you can see that the
reaction lasted about five minutes. But a graph of the results is even
more helpful. The graph is shown on the next page.
Factors that affect the rate of chemical
reactions
• 1) Concentration of reactant in solution
• 2) Pressure of reaction gases( only applies to gas)
• 3) Surface area (applies to solid)
• 4) Temperature
• 5)Catalyst
Collision theory

• For a chemical reaction to happen:

• reactant particles must collide with each other
• the particles must have enough energy for them to react
• A collision that produces a reaction is called a successful collision.
The activation energy is the minimum amount of energy needed for a
collision to be successful. This is different for different reasons.
• We can increase the rate of reaction by:
• Increasing the frequency of collision or
• Increasing the energy of the reacting particles.
 Concentration
Effect of concentration
• The concentration of a solution is the
number of particles in a given
volume of the solution.
• If we increase the concentration of
the reactants, we have more
reactant particles per unit volume.
the reactant particles are closer Note that the mean energy of the particles does not change.
together However, since the frequency of collisions increases (they
the frequency of collisions between happen more often) the frequency of successful collisions also
increases.
reactant particles increases
therefore the rate of reaction
increases
Graphs

The gradient of the line is equal to the rate of

reaction. The faster reaction at the higher
concentration
•gives a steeper line
•finishes sooner
 Temperature
• The greater the frequency of successful collisions, the
greater the rate of reaction. If the temperature of the
reaction mixture is increased:
 Reactant particles move more quickly
 the energy of the particles increases
 the frequency of successful collisions between reactant
particles increases
 therefore the rate of reaction increases
• Note that the mean energy of the collisions changes
when the temperature changes:
 the frequency of collisions increase
 the proportion of collisions that are successful also
increases
Graphs
The gradient of the line is equal to the rate of reaction. The
faster reaction at the higher temperature:
•gives a steeper line
•finishes sooner

The effect of temperature on the rate of reaction

is due to two factors - frequency of collisions and
energy of collisions. The increase in energy is
usually the more important factor.
 Effect of surface area
• Dividing lumps
• For a given mass of a solid, large lumps
have smaller surface
area to volume ratios than smaller lumps
or powders. If a large lump is divided or
ground into a powder:
• its total volume stays the same
• the area of exposed surface increases
• the surface area to volume ratio increases
Lumps versus powders

• The greater the frequency of successful collisions, the greater the rate
of reaction. If the surface area to volume ratio of a reacting solid is
increased:
• more reactant particles are exposed at the surface
• the frequency of collisions between reactant particles increases
• therefore the rate of reaction increases
• Note that the mean energy of the particles does not change.
However, since the frequency of collisions increases (they happen
more often) the frequency of successful collisions also increases.
Graphs

The gradient of the line is equal to the

rate of reaction. The faster reaction with
the powder:
•gives a steeper line
•finishes sooner

The rates of two or more reactions can be compared using a

graph of mass or volume of product formed against time.
The graph shows this for two reactions.
Catalysts
A catalyst is a substance that:
• speeds up the rate of a reaction
• does not alter the products of the reaction
• is unchanged chemically and in mass at the end of
the reaction
• Only a very small mass of catalyst is needed to
increase the rate of a reaction. However, not all
reactions have suitable catalysts.
• Catalysts only affect the rate of reaction - they do not
affect the yield of the reaction. A catalysed reaction
produces the same amount of product as an
uncatalysed reaction but it produces the product at a
faster rate.
How catalysts work
• A catalyst provides an
alternative reaction pathway that has a
lower activation energy than the
uncatalysed reaction. This does not
change the frequency of collisions.
However, it does increase the frequency
of successful collisions because a greater
proportion of collisions now exceeds this
lower activation energy.
• The effect of a catalyst on the activation
energy is shown on a chart called
a reaction profile. This shows how
the energy of the reactants and products
change during a reaction.
A reaction profile for a reaction with and
without a catalyst
Investigate the rate of a reaction by observing a colour change
• Aims
• To investigate the effect of changing the temperature on the rate of a
reaction.
• Sodium thiosulfate solution reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid:
• Sodium thiosulfate + hydrochloric acid → sodium chloride + water + sulfur
dioxide + sulfur
• Na2S2O3(s) + 2HCl(aq) → 2NaCl(aq) + H2O(l) + SO2(g) + S(s)
• The sulfur forms a cloudy yellow-white precipitate during the reaction. The
time taken for this to achieve a given cloudiness provides a way to measure
the reaction time.