International Baccalaureate

Diploma Program
Chemistry IA
Mallika Shah
 Research Question-

To calculate the activation energy of the exothermic reaction between Mg ribbon and Hydrochloric
acid at various temperatures by using the clock method.

Introduction-
When I studied the exothermic and endothermic reactions as a part of my chemistry course, I was
fascinated by the concept of activation energy. I learned that activation energy plays a major role in
many crucial reactions in today’s world. It provides the initial ‘boost’ of energy for biochemical
reactions such as respiration, photosynthesis etc. to proceed. I realised that exothermic reactions,
such as combustion, always require the input of an initial entry to get the reaction going. Wood
doesn’t ignite by itself!
Without this energy, the many reactions that happen in this world would not occur, and hence, I
have decided to work on this very intriguing topic by using a generalised reaction of magnesium
with hydrochloric acid, thereby creating a simulation for other larger-scale reactions. This particular
reaction, forms MgCl2 as its product. MgCl2 is a widely used compound in medicine to cure
Magnesium deficiencies. MgCl2 is also used to treat symptoms of too much stomach acids such as
acid indigestion, stomach upset, and heartburn. Magnesium is very important for the normal
functioning of cells, nerves, muscles, bones, and the heart.
Magnesium is vital for the normal functioning of cells, nerves, muscles, bones, and the heart.
Usually, a well-balanced diet provides normal blood levels of magnesium. However, certain
situations cause the body to lose magnesium faster than it can replace it from the diet. These
situations include treatment to maintain the level of Magnesium.
When I searched for the activation energy value for the reaction between magnesium strip and
hydrochloric acid, I failed to see any official values published. Therefore I took it upon me, to
design an experiment and find them out myself. This lead me to my research question, which is
Calculating the activation energy of the exothermic reaction between Mg ribbon and
Hydrochloric acid at various temperatures by using the clock method.

Investigation
Reaction under study
Mg(s) + HCl(aq) gives MgCl2(s) + H2(g) at 313.15, 323.15, 333.15, and 343.15
Background Information
The reaction between magnesium and hydrochloric acid is a single-replacement reaction, where an
element substitutes for another element in a compound. Magnesium has an electronegativity (a
measure of how strongly atoms attract bonding electrons) of 1.3, whereas hydrogen has an
electronegativity of 2.1. Because Magnesium loses its electrons more readily than Hydrogen,
Magnesium is a more reactive element than hydrogen. This means that Hydrogen is a more stable
element compared to Magnesium. Magnesium being the more reactive metal, displaces the
hydrogen and forms Magnesium chloride which is a colourless salt. The more reactive element, in
this case, Magnesium will be oxidised from Mg(s) to Mg+2 and hydrogen will be reduced from H+
to H2(g).

Activation energy is the energy (EA) is the minimum amount of kinetic energy with which the
reactant molecules must need to collide successfully. Activation energies vary for different
chemical reactions because the minimum energy required by different elements in order to react are
different. Every reaction has an activation energy value. Particles that have a kinetic energy value
greater than the activation energy will have successful collisions and those with lower values of
kinetic energy may still collide, but these collisions will not be successful in the sense of causing a
reaction. The Maxwell Boltzmann
distribution curve shows this scenario.

Moderating the temperature can cause an increase or a decrease in the average kinetic energy of the
particles. There will be two different Maxwell Boltzmann curves for different temperatures.
Although the area under both the curves will be equal as this represents the total number of
particles.
But at the higher temperature, more of the particles have higher values for kinetic energy and the
peak of the curve shifts to the right.
This happens because an increase in the temperature increases the collision frequency. More
importantly, at a higher temperature, a greater proportion of molecules have energy greater than the
activation energy, and so as the collision frequency increases, these molecules will collide and
result in more successful collisions and so the rate of reaction will increase.

The Arrhenius equation is a way of calculating the activation energy using rate constants and the
concentration of the reactants.

The Arrhenius equation is as follows-

The proportional relationship of concentration of reactants, versus the rate of reaction is converted
into an equation by introducing a rate constant, k. Because as the concentration of the reactants
increase, the rate of the reaction too increases simultaneously. k, the rate constant, is temperature
dependent. Since increasing temperature does not change the values of reactant concentrations, its
effect is therefore on the k value.

In this experiment, Instead of using concentration of reactants, using the clock method, activation
energy will be calculated using different temperatures.
The equation to calculate this, has been derived from the original Arrhenius equation-

lnk= -EA/RT + lnA

Calculations

Variables-

Independent Variable-

Temperature – This will be altered by using a water bath. The range of temperatures that will be used are 40,
50, 60 and 70 degrees.

Dependent Variable-

Time – The temperature will determine the amount of collisions and hence the speed of the reaction which
will affect the rate and so the time will change as temperature changes. This will be measured by using a
stopwatch.

Controlled Variables-

➢ Concentration of HCl as 1 mol/dm3

➢ The mass of the Mg strip as 0.15 grams
➢ Volume of HCL at 10 cm3
➢ Surrounding temperature – room temperature constant

Apparatus-

• 25 cm3 Measuring cylinder (± 0.1 cm)

• 50 ml Beaker
• Boiling tube
• 100°C Calibrated thermometer ( ±0.2 °C)
• Stopwatch ( ±0.01 second)
• Test tube rack
• Measuring balance ( ± 0.01 grams)
• Tongs
• Water bath

Chemicals to be used-

• 1 mol/dm3 Hydrochloric acid

 • Magnesium ribbon
• Water

Procedure-

1. Using a 25 cm3 measuring cylinder, add 10 cm3 of 1 mol/dm3 of dilute hydrochloricric acid to a
boiling tube.
2. The boiling tube should then be placed in a water bath until the temperature of the dilute
hydrochloric acid increases.
3. Constantly measure using a thermometer until it reaches 40 degree Celsius.
4. Using a measuring balance measure 0.15g of magnesium ribbon.
5. The 0.15 g of magnesium ribbon should be added to the boiling tube and the stopwatch should be
started.
6. The mixture should be stirred until the ribbon dissolves and the time taken for the magnesium ribbon
to disappear should be recorded..
7. The experiment is repeated by letting the temperature of hydrochloric acid to reach to 50, 60 and 70
degrees in step 3 and measure the respective timings for the magnesium ribbon to disappear.
8. Repeat the experiment thrice and calculate the average to get more accurate readings

Health and Safety Precautions-

• As Hydrochloric acid is a strong acid, direct contact of it with the skin would cause burns. Therefore
gloves were used throughout the experiment
• Tongs were used while adding the Mg ribbon to the HCl acid to avoid any contact with the acid
• Tongs were also used while holding the boiling tube in the water bath especially when the temperature
requirement was 50, 60 and 70°C
• The boiling tube was kept as much away from the face as possible using tongs with long hands, so as to
prevent inhaling the fumes
• Though low hazard, eye protection was used to prevent the spray of tiny bubbles bursting from coming
in contact with the eyes

Qualitative observation-

• Effervescence was observed when the Mg ribbon was added to the HCl.
• Pungent fumes were released
• The Mg ribbon started to become thinner and more silvery as the upper layer reacted with the acid.
• The temperature within the boiling tube started to rise once the Mg ribbon was added as it
became warmer to touch.
• The Mg ribbon floats on the surface of the hydrochloric acid

Quantitative Observation-

Readings

Temperature in Trial 1 Trial 2 (± Trial 3 Average

Kelvin (± 0.02 K) (± 0.01 s) 0.01 s) (±0.01s) (± 0.01 s)

313.15 407.31 410.21 411 408.58

323.15 385.49 393 390 336.74

333.15 363 367 365 279.25

343.15 290 319 306 204.17

Calculations-

To calculate the Activation energy for each of the following temperatures, the formula

was used where t is the time in seconds and T is the temperature in Kelvins.

Sample calculation - For 40° C= 313.5 K

Therefore after calculating, EA will be 15.619 kJ/mol

The same was repeated for other temperatures as well, the results are shown in the table below:

Temperature (°C) EA ( kJ/mol )

40 15.6

50 16.0

60 16.3
 Temperature (°C) EA ( kJ/mol )

70 16.3

Graph

Temperature/ °C time, t/s Temperature T/ K 1/T 1/t log10(1/t )

40 408.7 313.15 3.19*10-3 2.45*10-3 -2.61

50 336.74 323.15 3.09*10-3 2.97*10-3 -2.53

60 279.25 333.15 3.00*10-3 3.58*10-3 -2.45

70 204.17 343.15 2.91*10-3 4.90*10-3 -2.31

log10(1/t )
-2.4

-2.5 y = 0.044x - 2.665

-2.6

-2.7
3.19*10-3 3.09*10-3 3.00*10-3 2.91*10-3

Calculating EA from the graph:

, Hence,

= -800,

Compare both Ea – Why are they different

The graph shows the relation between log(1/t) vs. 1/T. As seen, there is a strong positive correlation
between the two. This is because as explained earlier, an increase in the temperature will lead to
more particles gaining more kinetic energy. And therefore more particles will have energy greater
than the EA and so more successful collisions will take place resulting in an increase in the rate of
reaction.

The values calculated for the EA in each case, do not alter drastically with a change in the
temperature. But they fluctuate a little due to the presence of uncertainties and accuracies. The lack
of responsiveness of EA to 10°C change in temperatures proves that the activation energy is not
dependent on the temperature. It is the responsiveness of the particles to the temperature that
increase the rate of reaction.

If the trend is carefully observed, it is visible that the graph obeys a straight line till the third
reading after which there is a sudden steepness in the readings.

This could be because of the presence of random and systematic errors.

The possible random errors could be-

• The Mg may have been thought to have disappeared earlier than it did

• The time of disappearance was thought to be earlier

• The timer was started late

• The timer was stopped too early (before the reaction ended)

• The temperature of the Hydrochloric acid had exceeded than its temperature requirement in the
water bath due to its uncertainty value. This is a parallax error.

Possible systematic errors-

• The measuring cylinder was not as accurate due to its uncertainty

• The mass of Mg might have differed from 0.15 grams, as the uncertainty of the measuring
balance is ± 0.01 grams.
Other possible inaccuracies in the experiment-

The data collected at higher temperatures in the experiment could have been more inaccurate
because of lesser reaction time and so there could be a greater uncertainty in time.

As the Mg ribbon floats on the hydrochloric acid, the ribbon will not fully be in contact with the
Hydrochloric acid in some readings, and so the time taken for the reaction might come out to be
greater than its actual value.

Possible solutions to the errors-

One of the major solutions to all the possible random errors is to repeat the experiment at least
thrice, preferably 5 times, to reduce these inaccuracies. As the experiment was carried out only
twice, these errors may have prevailed.

To reduce the systematic error of the measuring cylinder on the other hand, a more accurate
apparatus such as a burette can be used to take the 25cm3 readings.

When reacting the Mg ribbon with the hydrochloric acid, it should be taken care that the Mg ribbon
must be fully submerged in the acid. This could be done with the help of tongs.

Conclusion-

Using the formula, a range of values for the activation energy of the reaction between the
magnesium ribbon and hydrochloric acid were found. Although I was unable find the exact
activation energy value for the reaction, I managed to narrow the values between a range of 14
kJ/mol to 24 kJ/mol using the same concentration of HCl acid and 0.15g as the mass of the Mg
ribbon.

Further scope of work-

If the k constant is calculated using the Arrhenius equation, its temperature dependence can be
investigated. Using the Arrhenius plot, different values of k can be determined by different
temperature values. As the rate constant k is temperature dependent. If done so, then the
temperature again will be the independent variable.

Bibliography-

• Second edition Pearson HL 2014

• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M2fCkXYhxUuCwQhZP0wWXsGve4sJT1x4Y8bQF
2ndOKQ/edit#gid=0

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ9Z3h_6ne8