Chemistry Coursework

An investigation into the effects of rate of reaction

when concentration is changed.

Alex Jackson
2010

Alex Jackson- Chemistry Coursework- An Investigation into the effects of concentration on a reaction.

Introduction
In this coursework Ive decided to test what effect changing the concentration of an acid would have
on the rate of reaction of an experiment using that acid. I could have chosen to change:
Temperature- that the experiment was done in
Surface area- of the independent variable
Pressure- which affects the concentration of a gas
Concentration
Catalyst involvement- Where you add a catalyst it speeds up the reaction
I chose to change concentration because it was simple to do and it could be repeated easily and
therefore I could easily get more results.
I predict that the less dilute the acid is, the faster it will react. This is because when you dilute
something, you reduce the number of particles there are in the solution. Therefore the other chemical
has fewer particles to collide with and therefore the reaction will take longer.
Equipment I will use:
A beaker- Because I could see the bottom of it clearer than I could see the bottom of a conical
flask.
A stopwatch- because it gave a more accurate reading than just me counting.
A piece of paper with a cross drawn in permanent marker on it- because permanent
marker was darker than other pens.
A measuring cylinder- to accurately measure the amount of hydrochloric acid thats going
into the beaker.
Preparation
We did several pilot tests to see which the best experiment to do was and what the best way to do it
was. We tried using a gas syringe to measure the amount of gas produced by different amounts of
solid but this became impractical when things spilled over or broke.
We also tried changing the concentration of sodium thiosulphate instead of hydrochloric acid but this
was also impractical because our school had much less supplies of sodium thiosulphate than
hydrochloric acid therefore we could repeat the experiment more by changing the hydrochloric acid.
We chose this method.
Method
1. We set up our experiment like this:

Alex Jackson- Chemistry Coursework- An Investigation into the effects of concentration on a reaction.

I had my beaker of Sodium thiosulphate, water and hydrochloric acid on a piece of paper with a cross
on it.
2. We then (once all of the chemicals had been put in the beaker) started the stopwatch. We timed
how long it took for the water to go opaque.
3. We then recorded our results.
4. We repeated steps 1-3 with varying levels of water and hydrochloric acid:
Water
0
10
20
30
40

Hydrochloric Acid
50
40
30
20
10

5. We then worked out the averages of our results:

Vol. Thiosulphate
(ml)
10
10
10
10
10

Vol. Acid
(ml)
50
40
30
20
10

Vol. Water
(ml)
0
10
20
30
40

1
122
133
116
127
137

Results (Seconds)
2
3
Average
113
126
120
127
120
127
129
139
134
120
114
120
130
131
133

Maximum=______
Minimum=______
Outliers=______
How I controlled the experiment
I controlled the experiment by only varying the concentration of the hydrochloric acid. There was the
same amount of sodium thiosulphate every time and the temperature of the room was the same
because I did the experiment in an hour.
Evaluation of Method
Im confident that the method we used was good because it was simple and easy to plan, do and
record. To improve the method I would use a laser to shine through the liquid and put a sensor on the
bottom of the beaker to measure when it can no longer sense the laser. Another way I could improve
my experiment is by doing it more times. I would then get a more reliable set of data and means.
Was it a fair test?
Im confident that it was a fair test because we did the whole experiment in the same room within the
space of an hour so there wouldnt have been much change in the rooms temperature in that time.
Also we carefully measured the values so that there would be little change in the amounts of
chemicals that we put in because otherwise it could make our results less reliable.
Reliability of my data
Im confident that my data is reliable because although some error bars overlap on my graph I cannot
find another line of best fit that cuts the data appropriately.
Conclusion
My graph tells me that the lower the concentration of hydrochloric acid is, the longer it takes for the
mixture to go opaque therefore it takes longer for the reaction to complete. My graph shows a positive

Alex Jackson- Chemistry Coursework- An Investigation into the effects of concentration on a reaction.

correlation between the time it took for the mixture to turn opaque and the concentration on the
hydrochloric acid.
Explanation of data
The reason that the time increases as the concentration decreases is that when there is a lower
concentration of hydrochloric acid it means there are less acid particles for the sodium thiosulphate to
collide with. This lowers the chance of successful collision and it therefore takes longer for the
reaction to complete. I decided to record my results in seconds to 0 decimal places. I did this because
this is the most accurate unit that the stop watch could record in. Also, half a second is relatively
insignificant in proportion to a full second. Therefore I calculated my averages and rounded them to
the nearest whole number.
Confidence in conclusion
Im confident that my conclusion is accurate; I think (although it had a few flaws) the method is
reasonably accurate. The only thing that could have affected the results was human error which could
be caused by reaction times (operating the stop watch), eyesight (looking to see whether the mixture
was opaque or not) and not measuring out the chemicals accurately enough. I think however, any of
the above would have had little effect on the results of the experiment. The method though, was very
effective practically; it was easy to set up and perform and gave simple easily read and recorded
results.
Extension Experiment
As an extension Ive decided to test what effect surface area has on rate of reaction. I will use
magnesium (powdered and stripped) and hydrochloric acid to determine the results. I predict that the
more surface area an object has, the slower the rate of reaction will be.
Equipment I will use:
A beaker- because it was easier to tip the solid into than a conical flask.
A Thermometer- to measure the temperature.
A Stopwatch- to accurately count ten seconds
Electric scales- to accurately measure how much magnesium I was putting into the beaker.
Measuring cylinders- to accurately measure out the hydrochloric acid thats going into the
beaker.
How I controlled the experiment
I controlled the experiment by only varying the form of the solid magnesium. There was the same
amount of magnesium and hydrochloric acid every time and the temperature of the room was the
same because I did the experiment in the space of an hour.
Preparation
We did several pilot tests to see what the best way to do the experiment was. We tried using larger
amounts of magnesium but this just resulted in the froth overflowing from the beaker. We therefore
chose to use less magnesium to stop this happening.
Method
1. We set up our experiment like this:

Alex Jackson- Chemistry Coursework- An Investigation into the effects of concentration on a reaction.

I had my beaker with 100ml of Hydrochloric acid and 5 grams of magnesium in it. I put a thermometer
in the beaker and a stopwatch.
2. Once all of the chemicals had been put in the beaker we started the stopwatch.
3. We then recorded our results every 10 seconds for 80 seconds.
4. We repeated steps 1-3 six times to get more reliable averages. Three times with powdered
magnesium and three times with magnesium strips but they both weighed 5 grams per repeat.
5. We then worked out the averages of our results;

Time
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80

Solid Magnesium
Acid Temperature (c)
1
2
3
Average
19.0 19.0 19.0
19.0
20.0 20.0 20.0
20.0
21.0 21.0 21.0
21.0
23.0 21.0 22.0
22.0
25.0 26.0 23.0
24.7
27.0 29.0 26.0
27.3
29.0 30.0 27.0
28.7
31.0 31.0 29.0
30.3
33.0 33.0 30.0
32.0

Powder Magnesium
Acid Temperature (c)
Time
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80

1
19.0
21.0
22.0
25.0
26.0
27.0
28.0
28.0
28.0

2
19.0
21.0
23.0
26.0
27.0
30.0
31.0
31.0
31.0

3
19.0
20.0
21.0
23.0
25.0
26.0
27.0
27.0
27.0

Average
19.0
20.7
22.0
24.7
26.0
27.7
28.7
28.7
28.7

Maximum=______
Minimum=______
Evaluation of Method
Im confident that the method we used was good because it was simple and easy to plan, execute and
record. To improve the method I would improve the experiment by also testing chunks of magnesium.
This would give me another perspective on what effect surface area had on rate of reaction.

Alex Jackson- Chemistry Coursework- An Investigation into the effects of concentration on a reaction.

Was it a fair test?

I am confident that it was a fair test because we did the whole experiment in the same room within
the space of an hour so there wouldnt have been much change in the rooms temperature in that time.
Also we carefully measured the values so that there would be little change in the amounts of
chemicals that we put in because otherwise it could make our results less reliable.
Reliability of my data
I m confident that my data is reliable because although most error bars overlap on my graph I cannot
find another line of best fit that cuts the data appropriately. The spread of the data is not affected by
the overlapping error bars.
Conclusion
My graphs tell me that the powdered magnesium reacted faster than the solid magnesium and
therefore the less surface area an object has, the faster it reacts. This is because the smaller the
surface area, the more particles are exposed to the reaction and therefore the reaction is quicker. My
graph shows a positive correlation between the temperature and the time it took to react.
Explanation of data
I decided to record my results in seconds to 1 decimal place. I did this because it is a good degree of
accuracy and it was the unit that the thermometer recorded in.
Confidence in conclusion
Im confident that my conclusion is accurate because I did two tests repeating each three times. I did
this to increase the degree of accuracy; it gave my more reliable data.