1 How fast?

rates

Answers

Answers to Topic 1 Test yourself questions

1 a) Concentrated hydrochloric acid
reacts much faster with marble chips
than dilute hydrochloric acid.
b) Any reaction involving gases such as
the manufacture of ammonia from
nitrogen and hydrogen.
c) Magnesium powder reacts much
faster with dilute hydrochloric acid
than magnesium ribbon.
d) Catalytic converters are only
effective in speeding up the reactions
which remove pollutants from car
exhausts once they are hot.
e) A platinumrhodium alloy catalyses
the oxidation of ammonia to nitrogen
oxide.
2 a) In a more concentrated solution
there are more collisions per second
between reactants and so an
increased rate of reaction.
b) Increasing the pressure forces the
molecules closer together and
increases the rate of collisions which
lead to reaction.
c) When a solid reacts with a liquid or
gas the reaction takes place on the
interface where the reactants meet.
The larger the surface, the greater
the area open to reaction.
d) At a higher temperature the
MaxwellBoltzmann distribution
shifts to the right so the proportion
of molecules with energy greater
than the activation energy increases,
and so more collisions which are
more energetic can lead to reaction.
e) A catalyst provides an alternative
reaction pathway with a lower
activation energy. With a lower
activation energy there are more
collisions with enough energy to lead
to reaction.
3

(0.55
0.42)
moldm3
= 0.0087mol
15s
dm3s1

4 a) 2N2O5(g) 4NO2(g) + O2(g)

b) 2mol of NO2 is formed from 1mol of
N2O5;
7.0 104moldm3s1
5 a) Collect the gas in a graduated
syringe.
b) Remove samples at intervals, stop
the reaction by cooling and then
titrate against alkali the acid
produced by the reaction.
c) Measure the conductivity of the
solution to follow the increase in the
concentration of ions.
d) Carry out the reaction in a flask,
with a loose plug of cotton wool in
its neck, on a balance and record
the loss in mass at regular intervals.
6 Rate = k[peroxide]
k =
=

rate
[peroxide]

7.4 106 moldm3 s1

0.02moldm 3

= 3.7 104s1
7 Rate = k[ester][OH]
rate
k=

[ester][OH
]
=

0.00069
moldm3 s1
0.05moldm 3 0.10moldm 3

= 0.138dm3mol1s1
8 a) The graph is a straight line so the
reaction is first order with respect
to bromine.
b) i) Half-lives are all close to 200s
wherever they are read from the
graph.
ii) This is consistent with the
answer to a). The half-life for a
first-order process is
independent of the starting
concentration.
9 For a first-order reaction the gradient
of the
rateconcentration graph gives the
rate constant.
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G. Hill and A. Hunt 2009 Edexcel Chemistry for A2

1 How fast? rates

Answers

Rate = k[RBr][OH]
Second order
Units: dm3mol1s1
Graph similar to Figure 1.13.
2NH3(g) N2(g) + 3H2(g)
Rate = k
12 a) Rate = k[RBr][OH]
rate
b) k =

[RBr][OH
]
10 a)
b)
c)
11 a)
b)

1.36moldm3 s1
0.02moldm 3 0.02moldm 3

= 3400dm3mol1s1
13 a) Rate = k[RBr]
rate

b) k = [RBr]=

40.40
moldm3 s1
0.02moldm3

= 2020s1
14 a) 2H2(g) + 2NO(g) N2(g) + 2H2O(g)
b) Rate = k[H2(g)][NO(g)]2

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G. Hill and A. Hunt 2009 Edexcel Chemistry for A2

1 How fast? rates

Answers

15 Reaction between molecules involve

the breaking of covalent bonds. The
range of activation energies roughly
corresponds to the range of values for
covalent bond energies.
16 a) These are the units for a first-order
reaction.
b) As the value of k gets larger, the
rate gets faster for a given
concentration of the reactant. So
the reaction speeds up as the
temperature rises.
c) The 10 degree rise from 298K to
308K brings about a 5-fold increase
in rate. The 20 degree rise from
278K to 298K brings about just
over a 25-fold increase in rate.
17 a) Ea/RT becomes smaller in
magnitude as T rises. Because of
the negative sign in the equation,
this means that lnk becomes more
positive. So k gets larger as T rises
and the rate is faster.
b) The larger the activation energy the
larger the value of Ea/RT and so the
smaller the magnitude of lnk.
Hence k gets smaller and the rate
less.
18 ln(4.93 104) = constant

Ea
8.314 295

21

22

23

24

25

ln(1.40 103) = constant

Ea
8.314 305

Subtract and solve for Ea

Ea = 78kJmol1
19 a) Heterogeneous
b) homogeneous
c) heterogeneous
d)
heterogeneous
20 In the presence of a catalyst, the
reaction pathway has an activation
energy which is much lower than when
there is no catalyst. Tungsten metal
adsorbs hydrogen into the upper
layers of the crystal structure as single
atoms. So the catalyst breaks the

26

27

bonds between the atoms in one of the

reactants. The pathway with a lower
activation energy allows the reaction
to proceed much faster.
There are several steps to picking up a
meal from a canteen counter. The rate
at which the queue moves can be
slowed down if there is a ratedetermining step such as waiting for a
toaster to make pieces of toast or for a
coffee machine to deliver cups of
coffee.
Similarly the flow of traffic along a
motorway slows down overall if there
are lane closures and the traffic has to
travel at 50 mph along a
coned-off section of the road.
In the first step a strong covalent bond
has to break. In the second step two
oppositely charged ions, which attract
each other, come together to form a
bond.
a) NO2(g) + CO(g) NO(g) + CO2(g)
b) Rate = k[NO2(g)]2
c) Zero order
The intermediate has a double bond as
in an alkene, and an OH group as in
an alcohol. Hence it is called an enol.
a) Rate = k[CH3COCH3][H+]
b) Hydrogen ions act as the catalyst
for the reaction. They are not used
up in the reaction and so do not
appear in the balanced equation.
However, hydrogen ions are
involved in the rate-determining
step so that the concentration of
hydrogen ions affects the rate of
reaction. As a result, the
concentration of hydrogen ions
appears in the rate equation.
Hydrogen ions are used to form the
enol intermediate in steps 1 and 2 but
then as many hydrogen ions are
released at the end of step 2.
In both reactions the rate is
determined by the rate of formation of

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G. Hill and A. Hunt 2009 Edexcel Chemistry for A2

1 How fast? rates

Answers

the enol, which depends on the

concentrations of propanone and
hydrogen ions. Bromine or iodine then

react very quickly with the enol

intermediate as soon as it is formed.

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G. Hill and A. Hunt 2009 Edexcel Chemistry for A2