1

AnalyzingChemicalReactionRatesandtheirEffects:AnIodineClockReaction
Ackles,RobertT.Medina,ErickRuppel,MatthewJ.
HighTechHighNorthCounty,SanMarcos,CA92078

Introduction:
Chemicalreactionsareessentialtodisplayinghowcertaincompoundsreacttoone
another,especiallywhenthematerialsarecombinedtotheformofasinglesubstance.These
relationshipsbetweenmultiplechemicalsarearesultoftwomoleculesovercomingtheenergy
barrierthatisessentialforthemtoreacteachonemustreachacertainactivationenergyforthat
tooccur(seediagramonright).Notonlyisthereactioncontingentuponthismeasurebeing
satisfied,butthespeedoftheeventhasa
prominentimpactonthereactionaswell.
Whilethematerializationtimeforan
observablereactionreliesuponvarious
factors,thespeedofthisreactionis
dependentonthenumberofatomsineach
moleculethatexceedsthatactivation
energy.Astheactivationenergyofthetwo
moleculesrises,thereactionisslowed
down,fornotasmanycollisionsare
materializing.Onthecontrary,ifthereis
lessactivationenergyinvolved,thereaction
isquicker.Theentiretyofthisprocessis
consistentwiththerulesofCollisionTheory,whichstatesthatmoleculesmustimpactone
anothertoreact,andeachonemustpossessacertainamountofkineticenergyinorderfora
reactiontotakeplace.However,withthisparticularmultistepprocess,therateofthereactionis
dependentonthespeedoftheinitialpartofthereaction.Thisisdisplayedbelowinthecaseof
A
+BC+D:
Equation:
A+BC+D
Slow/Fast:
A+AC+E
Slow/Fast(dependenton1ststep):
E+BA+D
Result:
A+BC+D
Inthisparticularscenario,
E
servesasanintermediate,andendsupdictatingtheactions
oftheotherchemicalsinvolved.Intheslowandfastinstances,thelastproductoftheslowstep
andthefirstreactantofthefaststepcancelout,andtheextrapairof
As
isalsoeliminatedfrom
theactivity.Thisleavestheoriginalvaluesof
A+BC+D
,whichhighlightsthecyclethat
1
chemicalsperformwhenreactingwithoneanother.
1

Mudda,G.Chacha,P.Odufalu,F.D.RateDeterminingStep.ChemwikiUCDavis,
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/core/physical_chemistry/kinetics/rate_laws/reaction_mechanisms/ratedetermining_step(accessedApr21,2016).

Onalargerscale,thisrelationshipistestedfurtherwiththeinvolvementoftime
constraints,andwhetherthemixtureofcompoundscanwithstandthoserestrictions.These
chemicalreactionscanbemeasuredandobservedwiththeassistanceofphysicalchanges,such
astheemissionofheatandlight,theemergenceofaprecipitate,thedevelopmentofgas,oran
evidenttransformationincolor.2Byadjustingtheconcentrationsofcompoundsintheoverall
substance,thetimeittakesforadiscerniblereactiontooccurmayalsochange,dependingonthe
degreetowhichthesubstanceisaltered.Whiletheseresultsaretheobviouseffectsoftwoor
morechemicalsjoiningforces,theactualreactionitselfisburiedbelowthesurfaceofvisibility,
whichwasexplainedearlier.
Intheexperimentperformed,therateofthereactionwasdependentonthechemicals
involved,inthatsamecyclethatwasmentionedearlier.Whenhydrogenperoxide,iodineand
watertransitionedtoiodineandwater,andiodineandascorbicacidtransitionedto
benzenehexol,hydrogenandwater,thereactionhadalreadybeencirculatingforcountlesstimes.
Withtheadditionofthreeiodinemoleculescombinedwithstarch,thatspecificchemical
producedayellowpurplecolor,whichexplainstheevidentchangeinappearanceforthe
substance.Andwhenthefirstsetofchemicalstransitioned,theiodineandhydrogencancelled
out.Asawhole,thecompleteunitofreactionslookedlike:

Slow:
H2
O2
+2I
+2H+

I2
+4H2
O

+
Fast:
I

+2I
2+C

6H

8O

6C

6H

6O

6+2H

Rare:
I
+I

2
3

Result:
Starch+I

3I

3Starch

Again,thenewfoundchemicalof
I
,orthestarchindicatorwasthekeybehind

3Starch

3
whyonecouldtellthatareactionwasoccurring.
Thiswasthenormalreactionforthechemicals
given,butthemainquestionstillloomed:
Whichchemicalshouldbealtered?
Forthisexperiment,changingtheamountofstarchinthesubstanceseemedlikeitmight
makeadifferenceonhowlongitwouldtakeforadistinctoutcometoappear.Thestarchseemed
tobetheleastinvolvedintheoverallschemeofthings,andbychangingtheconcentrationofthe
chemicalbyasignificantdegree,thereactiontimecouldbedelayed.Whilethiswasmerelyan
estimationafterwatchingthereactiontakeplacejustonce,suchadifferencecouldbecrucialto
theendresult.

Experimental:
Inordertoexecutetheexperimenttoperfection,theobjectivewastofindandconcoctthe
correctamountsofascorbicacid,iodine,hydrogenperoxide,andstarchinasolutionthatwould
takebetween114and126secondstoreact.Thisprocesswassetintomotionwiththeobtention
oftwo100200mLbeakers(BeakerAandBeakerB),alongwithasmallerbeakeranda25mL
2
3

Tiskus,P.ChemicalReactions.ChemicalReactions,http://www.ric.edu/faculty/ptiskus/reactions/(accessedApr14,2016).
Ruppel,M.J.BreakingDowntheIodineClockReaction.
ClassLecture
2016.

graduatedcylindertomeasurewatervolumes.InBeakerA,10dropsofascorbicacidstock
solution,25dropsofiodinesolution,and5mLofdistilledwaterwerefusedtogetherandstirred
withaglassroduntilthesubstancewasclear.InBeakerB,60dropsof3%hydroperoxide
solution,10dropsofstarch,and5mLofdistilledwaterwereadded.Onceatimekeepingdevice
wasacquired,thecontentsofbothbeakerswerepouredintothesmallbeakerinsimultaneous
fashion,andthetimeatwhichthemixturereactedwasrecordedinatable.Theamountsofeach
chemicalwerealsonotedinthischart.Followingthefirstattempt,onechemicalwaschosento
bealteredforthenexttrial,(e.g.,add15dropsofascorbicacidstocksolutiontoBeakerA,as
opposedto10drops).However,theotherchemicalsstayedconsistentwiththeirpreceding
concentrationvalues,andthisprocessoftweakingasinglechemicalwasrepeatedmultiple
times.Thechemicalthateachgrouphadchosentoadjustcontinuedtochangeuntilanevident
reaction(achangeincolorfromtransparenttoyellow)tookplacein114to126seconds.

ResultsandDiscussion:
Thechemicalthat
seemedtobethemost
instrumentaltothespeedof
thereactionwasstarch,
becauseofthelesser
involvementthatithadwith
theprocess.Tostartoff,10
dropsofstarchwereusedin
BeakerAbeforethechemical
wouldeventuallybe
combinedwiththecontents
ofBeakerB.Thereaction
timewiththisamountofstarchwas26seconds,alongwiththeothermaterialsinbothbeakers.
Atthisstageintheexperiment,choosingaspecificchemicaltochangewasmerelyaprediction
astowhichonemighteasily
delaythereaction.However,
starchlookedtobean
afterthoughtinthemixture
ofcompounds,whichwas
somewhatintriguing.Asa
result,theamountofstarch
utilizedinthesecondtrial
rosefrom10dropsto50
drops.Afterthechemicalswerepouredintothesmallbeaker,ittook58secondsforadistinct
yellowcolortoemerge.Withamajorchangeinvolumeandspeedforthereaction,theeffectthat

anincreasedamountofstarchhadwasobvious,andthetrendwasmovinginapositivedirection.
Therefore,25moredropswereusedforthesubstanceinBeakerA,whichproducedareaction
timeof88seconds.Thankstoa30secondjumpinthetimethatthereactiontooktocomplete,
another25dropsofstarchwereaddedtoBeakerAinordertogenerateasimilarsurgeinresults.
Sureenough,thefourthtrialwith100dropsofstarchreactedin119seconds,whichwasjust
insidetherequired114126secondtimeframe.

Conclusions:
Afairlylineartrendcanbetakenawayfromthedata,withaconsistentclimboftime
accordingtotheamountsofstarch.Whiletheincreaseinstarchwascertainlydramatic,itproved
tobeeffectiveindelayingthereactiontothespecifiedtimelimit.Changinganotherchemical
couldhavebeenmoreefficientasfarasthenumberoftrialsthatwererequiredtogetacertain
outcome,butchoosingthestarchwasauniqueapproachonthetaskathand.Evenwhen
analyzingthestepsinvolvedwiththechangeinappearance,thestarchisnottoonoticeableinthe
groupofchemicals.However,theincreaseinstarchthroughouttheoverallexperimenthada
pronouncedeffectonthetimerequiredforthevariousreactionstooccur.Theincreasedstarch
concentrationspreadouttheothermoleculesinthechemicalsolution,makingitmoredifficult
foranevidentchangeinappearancetoemerge.Whilestarchwasnotakeyfactorofthe
substanceofthecolorchanging,theincreaseindropsextendedtheamountoftimeforthe
appropriateresultstosurface.
Toperformthisexperimentagain,itwouldbeinterestingtoseehowtheotherchemicals
wouldreactwhenalteredforthesameamountoftrialsasthestarchwas.Therefore,the
questionsthatcouldbeansweredmightinclude:
Infourtries,howsoonwouldchangingtheamountofascorbicacidaffectthereaction(s)
intheallottedtimeframe?
Infourtries,howsoonwouldchangingtheamountofiodineaffectthereaction(s)inthe
allottedtimeframe?
Infourtries,howsoonwouldchangingtheamountofhydrogenperoxideaffectthe
reaction(s)intheallottedtimeframe?
Byadjustingtheconcentrationsoftheotherthreechemicals,amoreproductivetheory
couldbeexplored,andtheexperimentmightrunsmootherthanithadwiththedifferentamounts
ofstarch.Becausestarchdoesnotmakemuchofamarkonthesolution,ithadtobemodifiedto
agreatextent,butitstillreactedwithintheset114126secondperiodthatwasnecessaryforthe
experiment.Andnotonlydiditcheckthatbox,butthestarchallowedtheexperimenttobe
completedinjustfourattempts.

References:
1. Mudda,G.Chacha,P.Odufalu,F.D.RateDeterminingStep.ChemwikiUCDavis,
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/core/physical_chemistry/kinetics/rate_laws/reaction_mechan
isms/ratedetermining_step
(accessedApr21,2016).

2. Tiskus,P.ChemicalReactions.ChemicalReactions,
http://www.ric.edu/faculty/ptiskus/reactions/
(accessedApr14,2016).

3. Ruppel,M.J.BreakingDowntheIodineClockReaction.
ClassLecture
2016.