An investigation into the rate constant of Reaction of the Thiosulphate-Acid Reaction

Research Question
What is the rate constant for a Thiosulphate-Acid Reaction by measuring the change of concentration from the time taken for the reaction to go to completion?

Introduction
Apparatus Chemicals - Thiosulphate Solution (Na2S2O3) - Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) - Water (H2O) Equipment - 50mL Beaker - 50mL Graduating Cylinder - Paper - Marker Variables Independent Variable Part A - Concentration of Thiosulphate Solution Part B - Concentration of Hydrochloric Acid Dependent Variable - Rate of Reaction Constant Variable - Volume - Pressure - Temperature - Cross clarity - Height of Eye above cross - Level of Opaqueness of Final Solution Procedure Part A 1. Draw a black cross on a piece of paper 2. Measure the temperature of the room 3. Put the required volumes of Thiosulphate Solution, Hydrochloric Acid and Water in the table below (Figure 1)

4. Time how long it takes for the cross to disappear and the solution becomes completely opaque in seconds. This is how long it takes for the reaction to go to completion. Make sure you look at the cross from the same height, and have a constant opaqueness for each reaction to stop the stopwatch. 5. Take a total of 3 trials per concentration, and for each trial use the same cross 6. At the end of each Trial, measure the temperature to jus 7. tify that the temperature is remaining constant Figure 1.1 Part A Measurements of each Solution for Dilution of Na2S2O3 Time* Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of H2O -3 -3 -3 0.2 seconds HCl 0.0002 dm Na2S2O3 0.0002 dm 0.0002 dm 10.0 10.0 0 10.0 10.0 0 10.0 10.0 0 10.0 5.0 5 10.0 5.0 5 10.0 5.0 5 10.0 2.5 7.5 10.0 2.5 7.5 10.0 2.5 7.5 Figure 1.2 Part B Measurements for each Solution for Dilution of HCl Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of H2O Na2S2O3 0.0002 dm-3 HCl 0.0002 dm-3 0.0002 dm-3 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 0 0 0 5 5 5 7.5 7.5 7.5

Time* 0.2 seconds

*The time is the time required for the reaction to go to completion, and thus turn completely opaque.

Data Collection and Processing

Raw Data Figure 2.1 Part A Rate of Reaction for Dilution of Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of H2O HCl 2.0 105 dm-3 Na2S2O3 2.0 105dm-3 2.0 105dm-3 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 0.0100 0.0050 0.0050 0.0100 0.0050 0.0050 0.0100 0.0050 0.0050 0.0100 0.0025 0.0075 0.0100 0.0025 0.0075 0.0100 0.0025 0.0075

Time* 0.2 seconds 241.4 232.3 227.5 512.0 492.5 479.5 N/A N/A N/A

Figure 2.2 Part B Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of H2O Time* Na2S2O3 2.0 105 dm-3 HCl 2.0 105 dm-3 2.0 105 dm-3 0.2 seconds 232.3 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 228.4 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 236.4 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0050 0.0050 0.0050 0.0025 0.0025 0.0025 0.0050 0.0050 0.0050 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 478.5 467.4 472.1 966.2 987.4 1008.0

To process the data, observe the effect of doubling the concentration on the rate. If it increases 0x, the reactant is of 0 order, if it increases 2x, the reactant is of 1st order, if the rate increases 4x, the reactant is of 2nd order, etc. Then, by using specific concentrations and the rate equation , where k is the rate constant and p and q are the orders of reaction. The rate constant can be determined by re-arranging the equation, so that .

There is an element of uncertainty in the results, as human error of timing is 0.2 seconds. This does not include the uncertainty of the human eyes measuring whether the reaction has gone to completion. The uncertainty in the volumes of the solutions is simply the smallest units, and does not account for random errors such as parallax errors and incorrect measurements. Qualitative Observations As the concentration of the solutions decreased and the time required for the solution to go opaque increased, the transparency of the solution increased implying that the reaction was not going to completion.

*The time is the time required for the reaction to go to completion, and thus turn completely opaque.

Data Processing First the average time for each concentration must be calculated, and from that the factor of the increase can be calculated. This can be seen in Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2. The uncertainty of the time is also calculated taking in account the random error. This is done by determining the maximum range for each set of trials (between the average value and the most extraneous point), and then averaging these uncertainties. Figure 3.1 Part A The average time required for the reaction to go to completion for the dilution of Na2S2O Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Na2S2O3 Volume of H2O Average Time * HCl 2.0 105 dm-3 2.0 105 dm-3 2.0 105 dm-3 10 seconds 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 230 0.0100 0.0050 0.0050 500 0.0100 0.0025 0.0075 N/A Figure 3.2 Part B The average time required for the reaction to go to completion for the dilution of HCl Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Na2S2O3 Volume of H2O Average Time * HCl 2.0 105 dm-3 2.0 105 dm-3 2.0 105 dm-3 10 seconds 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 230 0.0050 0.0100 0.0050 470 0.0025 0.0100 0.0075 980 Now, to calculate the factor of the increase the larger time is divided by the smaller time, the results seen below in Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2. Figure 4.1 Part A Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of H2O Average Time* HCl 0.0002 dm-3 Na2S2O3 0.0002 dm-3 0.0002 dm-3 10 seconds 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 230 0.0100 0.0050 0.0050 500 0.0100 0.0025 0.0075 N/A Part B Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 Volume of H2O Average Time * HCl 0.0002 dm-3 Na2S2O3 0.0002 dm-3 0.0002 dm-3 10 seconds 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 230 0.0050 0.0100 0.0050 470 0.0025 0.0100 0.0075 980

Factor of Increase 2.1 N/A N/A

Factor of Increase 2.0 2.1 N/A

As can be seen above, the factor of the change of the Rate of Reaction is approximately 2, which means that both the chemicals are of first order in this reaction mechanism. Thus, the rate equation is: , and as the indices are 1, they are cancelled: . This should be justified graphically, as the shape of the rate of reaction and a variation of concentration represents the order of the solution. This can be seen in Figure 5.In this, the rate is plotted, which is *The time is the time required for the reaction to go to completion, and thus turn completely opaque.

Change in Rate of Reaction with a variation of Concentrations of HCl and Na2S2O3

0.005 0.0045 0.004 0.0035 0.003 0.0025 0.002 0.0015 0.001 0.0005 0 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 dm-3 1.00 1.20 [HCl]/[Na2S2O3] mol

Rate (s-1)

HCl Na

As can be seen above, as the graph is linear the order of both HCl and Na2S2O3 is 2nd Order, justifying the calculations above. Through the percentage error (3.8%) the error bars can be placed in the graph. They cant be seen very clearly as the systematic error is rather small due to the precision of the instruments.

To calculate the rate, the change in concentration must be calculated. As the units for the rate is s -1, the rat e of the reaction is .

Below all the information required to calculate the rate constant is included in a table and then the rate constant (k) is calculated using the formula . The errors are calculated by converting the relative uncertainty to the percentage uncertainty and then back again. [HCl] mol dm-3 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.50 0.25 [Na2S2O3] mol dm-3 Rate of Reaction s-1 1.00 4.3 0.50 2.0 0.25 N/A 1.00 4.32.0 1.00 2.12.0 1.00 1.02.0 Rate Constant (k) mol-1 s-1 4.3 4.0 N/A 4.3 4.2 4.1

Taking the average of the rate constant, it can be seen that the rate constant is 4.2

mol-1 s-1.

Conclusion and Evaluation

Evaluation From the results of the experiment, it can be clearly seen that the rate constant is 00042mol-1 s-1. Due to the

*The time is the time required for the reaction to go to completion, and thus turn completely opaque.

minute error, and clear results for calculating both the order of the reactants and the rate constant, it allows for a safe assumption that this is the true value. Limitations There were several sources for systematic and random errors in this experiment. As the overall result had a random error of 0.1mol-1 s-1, this shows that there was no extreme source of random error. This error would have arisen from parallax errors, human reactions, misjudging how opaque the solution is and faulty measurements due to time limitations. The systematic errors mainly included the units for measurement of the apparatus, which, in some cases were rather large for measuring such minute solutions. The main limitation was that of time. As the transparency increased as the concentration of the solutions decreased, this implies something was amiss and the reaction wasnt going to completion. This should have been investigated, as a potential systematic error; it may have had a large effect upon the results. Another limitation is the lack of literature values to compare the results to. Although there doesnt appear to be much random error, due to systematic error the results could be amiss. The only way to calculate the potentially massive systematic and unseen random error is to compare the value 4.2 to the literature value, although this cannot be done. Improvements Many improvements to the experiment could have been made, such as improvement to the apparatus and no time constraints, but this is always so. In particular, in important improvement that could be made to this experiment would be to measure the rate of the reaction via spectrophotometry, and plotting it against time. This way the true end of the reaction could be discovered, instead of making and assumption that it has gone to completion. It would also remove much of the random error from the measurement of the rate of the reaction, and give a more accurate value.

*The time is the time required for the reaction to go to completion, and thus turn completely opaque.