Kinetics,ChemicalReactions,andtheIodineClock

Medina,ErickAckles,RobertT.Ruppel,MatthewJ.
HighTechHighNorthCounty,SanMarcos,CA92078

Abstract
(Wewilldothisparttogetherafteryouhavewrittenyourfirstdraftreport)

Introduction
Chemicalreactionsareimportantforvariousreasons.1Firstofalltheyareusedinorderto
producenewformsofmatter,andyoucanseetheminyoureverydaylife.Forexamplephotosynthesis,
combustion,rust,batteries,digestion,andsoaps/detergents.Chemicalreactionsalsohelpunderstandthe
propertiesofthesubstance.Byobservingthewaysthatthechemicalsreactwithotherchemicalsthenyou
canlearnit'schemicalreactions.Byobservingchemicalreactions,oneisalsoabletounderstandhowthe
naturalworldworks.Chemicalreactionsalsopiqueinterestduetothefactthattheycanbeexcitingand
entertaininganditalsoencouragespeopletoaskmorequestions.Excitingandentertainingchemical
reactionscanalsoleadyouthtowardsacareerinthesciencefield.Finally,withoutanychemicalreactions
nothingcouldeverchangeintheworld.Atomswouldremainatoms,andmoleculeswouldnotbeableto
form.Matterwouldn'texistandwithoutmattertheworldwouldbemuchlessinteresting.
Achemicalreactionoccurswhentwoormoremoleculesinteractwitheachothercausinga
molecularchange.2 Duringthesechemicalreactionsmultiplebondsbetweenatomsarebrokenand
multiplebondsacreatedwiththegoalofcreatinganewmolecule.Duringachemicalchangeoneofthe
mostimportantaspectsisthatachemicalchangemustoccur.Likestatedbefore,chemicalbondsmustbe
brokenandcreatedinordertocreateanentirelynewmolecule,andonemustkeepinmindthedifference
betweenamolecularchangeandaphysicalchange.Amolecularchangeisamolecularlevelchangethat
occursduetonewformationofchemicalsubstances,andisalwayscausedbythemakingorbreakingof
thechemicals.3Meanwhile,aphysicalchangeismoleculessimplybeingrearrangedwithabsolutelyno
affectontheirinternalstructures.
Therearetwoimportantvariablesthatdecidewhetherthecollisionbetweenthemoleculeswill
resultinachemicalreactionornot.Thevariablesare:theenergyofthecollision,andtheorientationof
thecollision.4Onemustkeepinmindwhenoneisputtingtwoormoremoleculestogetherinorderfor
themtointeract,itdoesn'tguaranteethattheywillreact.Bothchemicalsmustbeabletoreacttheright
way,andhaveenoughenergyinorderforbondstobreak.Chemicalbondsareactuallynotthatlikelyto
happenhowever,becauseinorderforachemicalreactiontooccurallmoleculesmustarriveexactlyatthe
samepointatthesametime,haveeverythingalignedtoapointwhereit'sexact,andhaveenoughenergy
toreact.
Forexampletakeintoconsiderationthecarbonbondthatislocatedattherightthatwantstobond
withthechlorineatom.Inorderforthebondtooccurthesinglehydrogenthatisconnectedwiththe
1

UnderstandtheImportanceofChemicalReactions.About.comEducation,
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemicalreactions/fl/importanceofchemicalreactions.htm(accessedApr25,2016).
2
ChemicalReactions.Chem4Kids.com:Reactions,http://www.chem4kids.com/files/react_intro.html(accessedApr14,2016).
3
Whatisthedifferencebetweenchemicalandphysicalchange?GeneralChemistryOnline:FAQ:Matter:
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/matter/faq/physicalchemical.shtml(accessedApr14,2016).
4
Anintroductiontothecollisiontheoryinratesofreaction,http://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/basicrates/introduction.html(accessedApr14,
2016).

chlorineatommustapproachthecarbon
doublebondinorderforthechemicalbond
towork.Otherwise,bothmoleculeswill
simplybounceoffeachotherandthe
chemicalbondwon'twork.
Anotherimportantaspecttokeepin
mindduringachemicalbondisthatevenif
themoleculescollideinasymmetricaland
orientatedmanner,thechemicalbonds
mightstillnotbeabletooccurifthereisn't
enoughactivationenergywhichisthe
minimumamountenergythatisrequiredforachemicalreactiontooccur.Thereisalsoawaytoresearch
thespeedofchemicalreactionswhichisknownasKinetics.5 Thefactorsthatdeterminethespeedofa
chemicalreactionare:natureofthereactants,particlesizeofthereactants,concentrationofthereactants,
pressureofgaseousreactants,temperature,andcatalysts.Inordertobeabletospeedupchemical
reactions,onemustkeepinmindkineticsanddothefollowingwhichhelpspeedupthereaction.
Makesurethereisalotofsurfaceareainwhichthereactionmayoccur.Thiscanhappenby
cuttingthechemicalsorsubstancesintosmallpiecesand/orgrindingit
intopowder.Thisworksbecausedoingsoexposesmoreparticlesduring
thechemicalreactionwhichmakesmorecollisions,andoverallincreases
therateofreaction.6 Thisisshowninthetabletotherightinwhichit
showsthatit'smuchquickerwhenonehasgreatersurfaceareathenwhen
onehasasmallersurfaceareabecausethereactionoccursandendfaster.
Anotherkeyfactortokeepinmindistheconcentrationofchemical
reactants.Thefinalkeyfactor,Iwillbetalkingaboutistemperature
whichalsoaffectsthespeedofthechemicalreaction.Thehigherthe
temperaturethefasterthereactionwilloccur,thisisduetothefactthat
thehigherthetemperaturethefasterthemoleculeswillmovemuchfaster
thenwhenthetemperatureislower.
Inthestudythatwasconductedthechemicalsascorbicacidstock(C
H
O
)andpovidoneiodine
6
8
6
([C
H
NO]
xI)werebroughttogetherandcombinedwithamixofhydrogenperoxide(H
O
)andstarch
6
9
n
2
2
(C
H
O
)inorderordertomeasureandlearnmoreaboutchemicalreaction.Throughoutthisexperiment
6
10
5
thebigquestionwas,howcanonechangethetheamountofconcentrationofonlyoneofthechemicalsin
ordertomakethereactioncometoanendinabout114126seconds?Thehypothesiswasthattheanswer
layinstarch(C
H
O
).
6
10
5

Experimental
Thematerialsneededforthisexperimentwerethefollowing.Distilledwater,two100mL
beakers,one250mLbeakers,one25mLgraduatedcylinder,ascorbicacidstocksolution(C
H
O
),
6
8
6
5

WhatFactorsAffecttheSpeedofChemicalReactions?ForDummies,
http://www.dummies.com/howto/content/whatfactorsaffectthespeedofchemicalreaction.html(accessedApr19,2016).
6
RateofReaction3ExplosionsandCatalysts.BBC,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_gateway/chemical_economics/reaction3rev1.shtml(accessedApr21,2016).

povidoneiodinesolution([C
H
NO]
xI),hydrogenperoxide(3%)solution(H
O
),andstarchsolution
6
9
n
2
2
(C
H
O
).Beforetheexperimentonemustprepareadatatableintheirnotebookinwhichthereisa
6
10
5
sectionforalloftheinformationthattheyarecollecting:amountofascorbicacid,amountofiodine,
amountofhydrogenperoxide,amountofstarch,andtotaltimeforthereactiontocomplete.Thenumber
ofsetsinthislabaredependentonhowyourprocessisgoingandhowlongittakestogetthecorrect
amountofthesubstanceyouarechanginginordertogetitintothetimeframethatisdesiredforthe
experiment(whichinthiscaseis114126seconds).
Obtaintwobeakers(100200mL)andlabelthemBeakerAandtheotheroneBeakerB.
Afterwards,obtainanotherbeakerandlabelitReactionBeaker(forthiswillbethebeakerinwhichthe
finalreactionwilloccur).Finally,obtaina25mLgraduatedcylinder.Afterallmaterialsaregatheredthen
startmixingandworkingwiththesubstances.InBeakerA,add10dropsofascorbicacidstocksolution,
25dropsofiodinesolution,and5mLofdistilledwater(note:shakethisbeakeruntilthesubstanceis
completelyclearandtheascorbicacidstockhascompletelymixedwiththeotherchemicals).InBeaker
B,add60dropsof3%hydrogenperoxidesolution,10dropsofstarchsolution,and5mLofdistilled
water.Oncebothsubstancesaremixed,pourthemuntotheReactionBeakerandusingatimekeeping
devicerecordhowlongittakesforthereactiontofinish/complete.Recordalltheinformationinthetable
createdoncethesetisfinished.
Afterthesetisdone,pourthereactionvesselintoaWasteBeakerandrinseusingtheRinse
WaterBottle.Donotpourthemixedsubstancedownanydrainforthereactionoutcomeishighlyacidic
andnotmeanttobegoingdownthedrain.Nowthatthefirstsetisdonethenintheteampickareactant
thatonecanaddmoreorlessinordertomakethereactioncompleteinthe114126secondgoal.Repeat
allofthestepsstatedaboveuntilthereactionisfinalizedin114126seconds.

ResultsandDiscussion
Intheexperimentthatwasconductedwegottheinformationthatcanbefoundrightbelow.The
teamconductedfoursetsandthereactanttheychosetochangewastheamountofStarchthattheyadded
totheconcentrationinordertogetittofinishitsreactionin114126seconds.

TheIodineClockReaction
Set#

Amountof
AscorbicAcid

AmountOf
Povidone
Iodine

AmountOf
Hydrogen
Peroxide

AmountOf
Starch

TotalTime
ForReaction
ToComplete

10drops

25drops

60drops

10drops

26Seconds

10drops

25drops

60drops

50drops

58Seconds

10drops

25drops

60drops

75drops

88Seconds

10drops

25drops

60drops

100drops

119Seconds

Thetwovariablesthattheteamworkedwitharetheamountofstarchsolution(C
H
O
)andthe
6
10
5
totaltimeforthereactiontocomplete.Justlookingatthetable,it'sobvioustoseethatastheamountof

starchincreasesthetimeincreasesaswell.WhenIputthisinthegraphthatcanbefoundbelow,yousee
thattheequationforthelineofbestfitis:y=
2
1.033

x
+12.072.
Ther
whichishowwell
thelineorcurvefitsthegraphis0.987.After
analyzingallofthisdata,itshowsandis
proventhatbyaddingmorethantheoriginal10
dropsofstarch(C
H
O
)thenthechemical
6
10
5
reactionwillmostdefinitelyoccurduringthe
desiredtimeof114126seconds.

Conclusions
Overallthebiggesttakeawayisthat
onecanincreaseanddecreasetheamountoftimethatittakesforareactiontooccur.Itwasshockingto
thinkthatjustchangingtheamountofdropsofstarch(C
H
O
)wasabletomakesuchahugedifference
6
10
5
intheamountoftimeittookforthereactiontocomplete.Anotherimportantthingthatwaslearnedisthat
notallchemicalcanbondwitheachother.Itneedstherightamountofenergy,andthemostshockingwas
thefactthatthechemicalsneedtoalignsymmetrically.
Inthislabsomethingthatwasfoundisthatifyouincreasethedropsofstarchinthislabfrom10
dropsofstarchsolutionto100drops,andkeepalltheotherdropsthesame(10dropsofascorbicacid
stocksolution,25dropsofiodinesolution,and60dropsof3%hydrogenperoxidesolution).Thismakes
mewonderwhatifyouwerechallengedtochangemorethanonechemical,ifthereisawaythatyoucan
stillbalanceitsothatitfinishedthechemicalsthesamedesiredtimeastheoneforthisexperiment.In
additiontothat,Iwouldliketoknowifchangingmorethanonesubstancewouldalsochangethecolor
thatwouldoccurwhenthechemicalsaremixedwitheachother.

References
WhatFactorsAffecttheSpeedofChemicalReactions?ForDummies,
http://www.dummies.com/howto/content/whatfactorsaffectthespeedofchemicalreaction.html
(accessedApr19,2016).

Anintroductiontothecollisiontheoryinratesofreaction.Anintroductiontothecollisiontheoryinrates
ofreaction,http://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/basicrates/introduction.html(accessedApr14,2016).

RateofReaction3.BBC,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_gateway/chemical_economics/reaction3rev1.
shtml(accessedApr21,2016).

ChemicalReactions.Chem4Kids.com:Reactions,http://www.chem4kids.com/files/react_intro.html
(accessedApr14,2016).

Whatisthedifferencebetweenchemicalandphysicalchange?GeneralChemistryOnline:FAQ:Matter:
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/matter/faq/physicalchemical.shtml(accessedApr14,
2016).