Saram Marwin

Rates of Reaction Investigation Lab Report

Grade 10

This investigation is created to experiment on the different factors that affect the rate of a reaction, either
slowing it down or speeding it up. Some examples of these factors include changing the concentration of the acid,
the size of the surface area or the temperature of the chemicals. The particular factor I would be focusing on
would be quantity of reactants. According to the collision theory, the more concentrated or dense a chemical or
reactant is, the faster it takes for the reaction to finish. However, I would like to know whether the quantity of
reactants may be considered a factor that could increase the rate of the reaction.

Aim: How does changing the length of magnesium (increasing by 0.5 cm each variable) in a reaction with
sulphuric acid (450 ml, 1 molarity) affect the rate of the reaction in seconds, investigating whether an increase in
the amount of reactants would either slow, speed up the rate of the reaction.

Hypothesis: I predict that the reaction would remain consistent throughout the experiment. This is due to the
fact that despite there being an increase in the amount of reactants, there is also an increase in the chance of
collision due to their being more reactants packed into an area. Since the acid and magnesium is of the same
concentration or denseness, when there are more reactants, this would just mean that there is a larger surface
area for the reaction to occur.

Variables
Independent

Factors
Length of Magnesium

Dependent

Time taken for reaction to finish

Controlled
Controlled

Type and concentration of acid

used
Temperature of work place

Controlled

Surface Area of Magnesium

Controlled

Size of Container

Description
The Magnesium will be measured with a ruler in 0.5,
1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 cm and cut up to the length needed
When the magnesium is dropped, the timer should
be activated, when the magnesium is fully dissolved,
showing no signs of bubbles, stop the time as fast as
possible to retain accuracy
Only sulphuric acid (H2SO4) with a concentration of 1
mole will be used
Avoid conducting the experiment near large heat
generating such as heat stoves or under an air
conditioner, doing so may avoid the occasional
breeze cooling down the chemical and slowing the
reaction rate by increasing the activation energy
When cutting the magnesium, cut it to its exact
length, instead of cutting it into smaller pieces. For
example, when tasked to cut 2 cm of magnesium, do
not cut 2 stripes of 1 cm magnesium, instead, just cut
1 stripe of 2 cm magnesium. To ensure the acid will
make contact with all parts of the magnesium, swirl
the flask right after dropping the magnesium.
Use only 200ml measuring cylinders, shallower
containers may force the magnesium stripes to perk
up from the acid, instead of fully enveloping it.

Apparatus Needed:
200ml Conical Flask x1
100ml Measuring Cylinder x2
Seconds/Minutes/Hours Timer (IPhone) x1
450ml of Sulphuric Acid (1 mol)
22.5 cm of Magnesium

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Saram Marwin

Rates of Reaction Investigation Lab Report

Grade 10

Safety Glasses x1
Ruler containing millimeter as well as centimeter x1
Scissors x1

Methods:
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS:
1) Gather the apparatuses, from containers such as the conical
Wear Safety glasses before
flask and measuring cylinder to scissors, rulers, timers and
safety glass.
experiment to avoid chemicals
2) Wear Safety glasses before experiment starts to avoid
spitting out into the eye.
chemicals spitting out into the eye.
If the sulphuric acid accidentally
3) Measure with a ruler and cut up 0.5 cm of magnesium using a
spills and touches the skin,
scissors.
quickly move to clean and rinse
4) Pour in 30 ml sulphuric acid into the 100 ml measuring cylinder
hand with water to avoid
and use the extra measuring cylinder as a balancer, pouring in
itchiness. Report to the teacher
and out to get the precise volume needed (without needing to
of the incident if necessary.
pour the acid back into its container). Kneel down until the
liquid is at eye level to see if the meniscus hits the 30 ml level on the
measuring cylinder.
5) Bring the sulphuric acid in the measuring cylinder and the magnesium
strip to the work table.
6) Pour the 30ml of sulphuric acid from the measuring cylinder into the
conical flask.
7) Drop the magnesium into the conical flask while preparing a timer at
the same time. When the magnesium touches the acid, start timing
immediately.
8) Swirl the conical flask so that the acid fully envelopes the magnesium,
ensuring the same surface area throughout the experiment.
Example of looking at Meniscus
9) When the magnesium is fully dissolved (evident when there are no more
level by (Spurlock)
bubbles), immediately stop the timer and record down the time.
10) Pour out the chemical into the sink and quickly rinse the conical flask.
11) Repeat the experiment (Step 2 to 9) two more times using the same amount of
magnesium to serve as trials and increase the datas accuracy and validity.
12) Repeat the experiment (Step 2 to 10) four more times, increasing the
amount of magnesium used by 0.5 cm each time. Variable 2 should be using
magnesium stripes with a length of 1 cm. Variable 3 should be using
magnesium stripes with a length of 1.5 cm and so on until 2.5 cm
magnesium are used, which indicated that it is variable 5, the last variable
to be recorded.
13) Clean up and rinse apparatus such as the conical flask and measuring
cylinders with water.

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Example of dropping a piece of

magnesium (Drinkstuff)

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Saram Marwin

Rates of Reaction Investigation Lab Report

Grade 10

Data Collection:
Length of magnesium
0.1 centimeter (cm)
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5

Time Taken/Rate of Reaction

Trial 2
Trial 3
46
45
59
58
48
56
87
96
121
48

Trial 1
42
42
119
118
87

2 seconds (s)
Average
44
53
74
100
85

Observations During the experiment, there were occasions where the chemical reaction pushes the bigger
magnesium pieces to the glass. Since one side of the magnesium would be unreachable by the acid, the chemical
reaction rate is slowed down greatly. This is mostly due to poor chemical swirling skill as some of my swirl has
failed to fully envelope the magnesium with acid, covering less surface area than it is supposed to, which is the
explanation behind the erratic results above 100 seconds seen on the table.
Uncertainties There are 2 noticeable uncertainties in my experiment, mainly caused by the limitations of the
human eye and measuring skill. As the length I am using requires the usage of millimeters, since the pointers are
extremely close to each other, it is very difficult to get the precise measurement of the magnesium with the
human eye. However, it is even harder to cut it up with a scissors, as I didnt mark the measurements precisely
when measuring, causing these uncertainties.

Graph:

Time taken/Rate of Reaction (s)

Reaction Time (s) VS Length of Magnesium

(cm)
120
y = 25.8x + 32.5
R = 0.7929

100
80
60
40
20
0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Length of Magnesium (cm)

When the experiment were averaged and graphed, it shows that the more magnesium there is,
the longer it took for the reaction to finish. The graph shows a line of best fit of (y = 25.8x + 32.5) with a
positive gradient, with all variables apart from variable 5 following the general trend.

Northbridge International School Cambodia

Page #: 5

Saram Marwin

Rates of Reaction Investigation Lab Report

Grade 10

Conclusion:
The results shows that the more magnesium there is in the reaction, the longer it will take for the
dissolution process of the magnesium with Sulphuric Acid to finish. However the results are erratic, with the
presence of 40 seconds in the data of nearly every variable possibly showing that it may not have changed at all,
and that the higher digits in later variables are just outliers. An explanation for this is that as the magnesium was
increased in quantity but not in concentration (since it was the same flat stripe), the surface area of the
magnesium is increased along with its quantity as well, which according to the collision theory would therefore
increase the chance of particle collision.
On the validity of my findings, while the current data seems quite accurate when averaged, with the
dependent variables following closely to the trend line with the exception of variable, the range between the
minimum and maximum is too high. Its fitting to the linear regression is R = 0.7929, being quite close to 1,
showing that the results may be accurate. However, as previously stated, many of the reactions that took longer
than 40 seconds are flawed, mainly due to poor mixing skills and tendency for the magnesium stripe to be pushed
to the side of the conical flask during its reaction.

Validity of Hypothesis:
The results from my experiments disagree with the hypothesis Ive made earlier, increasing in time taken
instead of remaining the same like I had predicted. However, as noted in the observations section, this is largely
contributed to the fact that larger pieces of magnesium tend to be pushed to side of the conical flask due to the
acid only reacting to one surface side of the magnesium. In some data, where the acid managed to fully envelope
the magnesium stripe, it has a significant difference in time taken to dissolute the magnesium stripe. As such, the
validity of my hypothesis may be correct, however it can only be proven if the experiment was redone with better
planning and more careful swirling skill.

Improvements:
Issue
Surface Area not
controlled Swirling
Skills
Surface Area not
controlled
Magnesium Strip
pushed to the sides
Uncertainties Magnesium Length not
precise
Uncertainties
Reaction time delay
when recording
Acid could be diluted
after washing it with
water and reusing

Impact
Causes some outliers as
when swirled, only one
surface area is enveloped.
Causes the Magnesium to
be pushed to the sides of
the conical flask, exposing
only one surface area side
Small differences (0.1
cm) in the variables when
repeating trials
Small differences (2
seconds) across all
variables and trials
Could increase time taken
for the magnesium to
dissolute

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Improvement
Practice in swirling chemicals in conical flask so that the
first swirl would fully envelope the magnesium stripe with
acid
Have tweezers or anything that could hold the magnesium
in place without moving for the whole reaction process,
using something mechanical is better as the reaction takes
quite a while
Using a shaper tool that can align and cut the magnesium
at the same time, a cutting table for example placed on the
table that allows precise measured cuts
Let a partner help as they can just focus on the timing
while I drop the magnesium into the acid, instead of trying
to multitask everything
Use a tissue and try to clear out as much water as possible
instead of heading straight to experimenting right after
washing the last acid away.

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Saram Marwin

Rates of Reaction Investigation Lab Report

Grade 10

Possible Extensions:
There are a few things that I think could be improved upon to make a much better and more reliable
experiment. As I only have 5 variables, with the last one being an outlier, I am not very confident about the validity
of this experiment and whether it is too inaccurate, as such, repeating the experiments with more trials would
allow more precise results as well as give me more chances to observe on what parts of the experiment that needs
working on. Another thing that could be improved upon is the way in which I ensure the surface area is controlled.
Instead of dropping off the magnesium straight into the acid, and depending on my poor swirling skills to make
sure the acid fully envelops the magnesium stripe, I should instead use tweezers or any tool (that cannot be
dissolute by sulphuric acid) to hold onto the magnesium stripe and ensure the magnesium remains in the same
spot with all its surface area reacting at the same time to ensure more accurate results.

Bibliography
BBC GCSE Bitesize. Collision theory and rates of reaction. 2011. 7 December 2014
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway_pre_2011/rocks_metals/7_f
aster_slower1.shtml>.
D, Spurlock. Density Determinations. 21 September 2011. 7 December 2014
<http://homepages.ius.edu/DSPURLOC/c121/week3A.htm>.
Drinkstuff Deliveries. Drinkstuff. n.d. 7 December 2014
<http://www.drinkstuff.com/products/product.asp?ID=13549#.VIcbj_mUfjU>.

Northbridge International School Cambodia

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