ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

College of Engineering
Chemical Engineering Department

Experiment No. 8

CHEMICAL KINETICS

Group No. 1

*CARNIYAN, Evelina Angelica L. 200810529

MANALILI, Bryan Neil T. 200810214

ORALLO, Karen Grace N. 200811873

TORRES, Angelica Grace A. 200813468

Instructor:

Engr. Jerry Olay

Date Performed: Feb. 28, 2011

Date Submitted: March 07, 2011

 I. ABSTRACT

Chemical kinetics was applied in this experiment and used to determine the order and activation
energy of the involved reaction. An ignition tube, covered with a cork and fitted with a delivery tube,
was used for the experiment. The experiment is divided into 3 procedures, categorized according to the
factors that affects chemical kinetics .For the first procedure, the concentrations of HCl (1M, 2M, 3M,
4M and 5M) undergone a reaction with a piece of zinc metal, results to yield zinc chloride and hydrogen
gas, while the tip of the delivery tube was faintly immersed in a beaker with water. The rate of the
reactions was determined through the 30 bubbles that will depart from delivery tube. The second
procedure was divided according to increasing temperature, 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C was used. The
ignition tube with 2M HCl solution was then removed from the water bath after reaching the required
temperature. A piece of zinc metal was dropped to the solution and covered with a cork with delivery
tube. The required time was determined from the 30 bubbles that emerged from the delivery tube.
Copper Nitrate was used as a catalyst for the 3rd procedure. A mixture of HCl and Cu(NO3)2 was used to
test the effect of catalyst in the reaction. Same procedure as the second experiment was conducted. The
data gathered are calculated with the use of “Rate law” and ‘Arrhenius Equation” for the three
procedures.

II. INTRODUCTION

Chemical kinetics is the study and discussion of chemical reactions with respect to reaction
rates, effect of various variables, re-arrangement of atoms, formation of intermediates etc. The four
common variables that influence reaction rate are the concentration of the reactant, temperature,
catalyst, and surface area. In this experiment, differences in concentration, temperature and with a use
of catalyst will be performed. The reaction involved will result in the formation of zinc chloride and
hydrogen gas. The gas evolved will be used as an instrument for the determination and computation of
order or reaction and activation energy.

III. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Factors that Affect Reaction Rates

A) Concentration

Increasing the concentration of reactants in solution increases the number of reactant particles
which increases the number of collisions so the reaction rate increases. Increasing the pressure
of a gaseous reaction by adding more reactant gas particles increases the number of collisions
so the reaction rate increases. Increasing the pressure of a gaseous reaction by reducing the
volume of the reaction vessel increases the number of collisions so the reaction rate increases.

B) Temperature
Increasing the temperature of a reaction increases the kinetic energy of the particles which
increases the number of collisions so the reaction rate increases. Increasing the kinetic energy of
reactant particles also means more of the reactant particles will have the minimum amount of
 energy required to form products which leads more successful collisions and therefore increases
the reaction rate. Increasing the temperature will increase the reaction rates both endothermic
and exothermic reactions, it will also affect the equilibrium position.

C) Catalyst

A catalyst lowers the activation energy for the reaction so more reactant particles will have the
minimum amount of energy required to form products so the reaction rate increases.

Determination of Order of Reaction

Where:
v= rate
k= rate constant
[A] and [B]= concentration
a= order of reaction with respect to A
b= order of reaction with respect to B

This is called the rate equation for the reaction.

The concentrations of A and B have to be raised to some power to show how they affect the rate of the
reaction. These powers are called the orders of reaction with respect to A and B.

If the order of reaction with respect to A is 0 (zero), this means that the concentration of A doesn't
affect the rate of reaction. Mathematically, any number raised to the power of zero (x0) is equal to 1.
That means that particular term disappears from the rate equation.

The overall order of the reaction is found by adding up the individual orders. For example, if the reaction
is first order with respect to both A and B (a = 1 and b = 1), the overall order is 2. We call this an overall
second order reaction.

Arrhenius Equation

E a = activation energy
R = 8.314 [ J · mol -1 · K -1 ]
T = absolute temperature in Kelvin
A = pre-exponential or frequency factor
A = p · Z, where Z is the collision rate and p is a steric factor.
Z turns out to be only weakly dependant on temperature.
Thus the frequency factor is a constant, specific for each reaction.

This equation implies that the rate of an uncatalyzed reaction is more affected by temperature than the
rate of a catalyzed reaction. This is because the activation energy of an uncatalyzed reaction is greater
than the activation energy of the corresponding catalyzed reaction. Since the exponential term includes
the activation energy as the numerator and the temperature as the denominator, a smaller activation
energy will have less of an impact on the rate constant compared to a larger activation energy. Hence,
the rate of an uncatalyzed reaction is more affected by temperature changes than a catalyzed reaction.

IV. PROCEDURE

Effect of Concentration

1. 1M, 2M, 3M, 4M and 5M HCl solutions was prepared by serial dilution from a 17M HCl
2. 10 mL of each solution was placed in an ignition tube with a cork stopper fitted with a delivery
tube.
3. A piece of Zn metal was dropped into the HCl solution.
4. The tip of the delivery tube was faintly immersed in a beaker filled with water.
5. The required time was measured through 30 bubbles came out from the tip of the delivery tube.
6. Rate law was formulated to determine the values of k and n.

Effect of Temperature

1. 10 mL of 2M HCl was used and placed in a clean ignition tube.

2. The solution was heated in a water bath until the required temperatures (40°C, 50°C, 60°C and
70°C) reached.
3. The ignition tube was removed from the water bath and a piece of Zn metal was dropped. Then,
fitted with the delivery tube. During the reaction, the tip of the delivery tube was faintly
immersed in a beaker with water.
4. The required time for 30 bubbles that will emerge from the delivery tube was measured.
5. The rate used in the data obtained from procedure A was used to determine the values of k.
6. The log k versus 1/T was plotted and the activation energy of the reaction was determined by
using Arrhenius equation.

Effect of Catalyst

1. A mixture of 10 mL 2M HCl and 2mL 1M Cu(NO3)2 was placed in a clean and dry ignition tube.
2. The solution was heated according to the required temperatures (40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C) in
a water bath.
3. The tube was removed from the water bath, then added with a piece of Zn, and fitted with the
delivery tube.
4. The tip of the delivery tube was faintly immersed in a beaker with water.
5. The values of k were determined from the rate using data obtained from procedure A.
6. Log (k) versus 1/T was plotted and determined Ea for the catalyzed reaction.
V. RESULTS

A. Effect of Concentration

Concentration(M) Time(s) Rate

1 15.03 0.0665
2 13.96 0.0716
3 10.09 0.0991
4 7.30 0.1370
5 5.21 0.1919

0.25

0.2

0.15
Rate

0.1 Series1
Linear (Series1)
0.05

0
0 2 4 6
Concentration of HCl (M)

k= -0.03135 (2.303) n=1

k= 0.0722
B. Effect of Temperature

C) T(K) 1/T(K) Time(s) 1/Time(s) K

40 313.15 37.68 0.026 0.0133
50 323.15 34.33 0.029 0.0146
60 333.15 29.21 0.034 0.0171
70 343.15 27.96 0.035 0.0179

-1.72
-1.740.0028 0.0029 0.003 0.0031 0.0032 0.0033
-1.76
-1.78
-1.8
log (K)

Series1
-1.82
Linear (Series1)
-1.84
-1.86
-1.88
-1.9
1/T

Slope= -407.81 Ea= 3390.56 J/mol

Derived formula from Arrhenius Equation: Ea= 8845.76 J/mol

C. Effect of Catalyst

C) T(K) 1/T(K) Time(s) 1/Time(s) K

40 313.15 204 .004900 .0024510
50 323.15 188 .005319 .0026596
60 333.15 174 .005747 .0028740
70 343.15 166 .006024 .0030120

-2.5
0.0028 0.0029 0.003 0.0031 0.0032 0.0033
-2.52

-2.54
log (k)

-2.56 Series1
Linear (Series1)
-2.58

-2.6

-2.62
1/T

Slope= -365.14 Ea= 3035.78

Derived formula from Arrhenius Equation: Ea= 6137.91 J/mol

 VI. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

The order of the reaction was a 1st order. The result gathered shows that the
higher the concentration will result an increase also in rate of reaction. The effect of
increasing temperature was also shown in the table of data gathered. An increase in
temperature results also an increase in rate of reaction. The activation energy of the
reaction was computed from the slope and from the derived formula from Arrhenius
Equation. It was found that there is 61.67% error between the two. The effect of
catalyst was also tested. A slow reaction was noticed but an increase in reaction rate.
The result shows that the activation energy of uncatalyzed reaction is higher than the
catalyzed reaction. The possible error that contained in this experiment is from the time
estimated from the 30 bubbles that emerged from the delivery tube.

VII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The increase in concentration results an increase in reaction rate. This occurrence

explains that more particles of HCL will collide with the particles of zinc metal.
The HCl particle will gain more kinetic energy if there is an increase in temperature. The
HCl particle will have sufficient energy to react resulting in more successful collisions with zinc
metal.
The effect of catalyst inhibits the reaction. It also increases the reaction by providing a
new mechanism that has smaller activation energy. There will be more collisions between the
two reactants.
The reaction does not depend in the size of metal used because the order of Zn is 0. It
means that even though you add more metal, it won’t affect the reaction rate.
For this experiment, the group recommends that the performer must try to gather data
precisely and handle the apparatus carefully. And also, be careful from the chemicals and some
possible hazards.

VIII. LITERATURE CITED

 Arrhenius Equation. Retrieved, March 05, 2011 from http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/

Physical_Chemistry/Kinetics/Reaction_Rates/Temperature_Dependence_of_Reaction/A
rrhenius_Equation

 Orders of Reaction. Retrieved, March 05,2011 from http://www.chemguide.co.uk/

physical/basicrates/orders.html

 Reaction Rate. Retrieved, March 05, 2011 from http://www.ausetute.com.au/

reactrate.html
 IX. NOMENCLATURE

[A] = concentration
Ea = activation energy
k = reaction rate
m = slope
n = order of reaction
R = gas constant
r = rate

SAMPLE COMPUTATIONS

A) Effect of Concentration

B) Effect of Temperature
Arrhenius Equation:

C) Effect of Catalyst
Arrhenius Equation: