Abby Weitkamp

Hays

AP Chemistry

7 April 2017

Study of the Kinetics of a Reaction

Objectives

Find the order of the reaction of each of the reactants, and calculate the rate law.

Observe the effect of a catalyst on the rate of the reaction.

Lab Partners

Lindsey Cowley

Kaitlin Rohr

Silya Benai

Nick Mruk

Anthony Caison

Pre-Lab
Materials

Potassium iodide, KI 0.010 M Sodium thiosulfate, Na2S2O3 0.0010 M

Potassium bromate, KBrO3 0.040

M Starch solution 2% (by mass)

Hydrochloric acid, HCl 0.010 M Copper (II) nitrate Cu(NO3)2 0.1 M

Equipment

250 mL Erlenmeyer Flask as the reaction vessel

6 Erlenmeyer Flasks to contain solutions

6 Graduated cylinders

Stir bar

Hot plate with stirring

Timer

Thermometer

Procedure

1. Complete pre-lab and create all solutions.

2. Fill each graduated cylinder with the designated amount of each solution.

3. Combine all solutions in the 250 mL Erlenmeyer Flask that acts as a reaction vessel. Add

KBrO3 last and turn the stir on.

4. Start the timer as soon as the KBrO3 is added.

5. Stop the timer when you begin to see a change in color of the solution.

6. Record the time you stopped the timer at on the data sheet.

7. Rinse reaction vessel with DI water

8. Repeat steps 2-7 for trials 1-8. Do trial 1 a second time to make sure you get an accurate

reading.

9. Fill the reaction vessel with all solutions except for KBrO3.

10. Record the initial temperature of the solutions.

11. Heat the combination of solutions to 10 above the initial temperature.

 12. Add KBrO3 and
complete steps 4-7.

13. Repeat steps 2-7 for trial 10 but add 10 mL of Cu before adding the KBrO3.

14. Clean up work station.

Observations

Trial Color

1 yellow

1 yellow

2 yellow

3 yellow

4 black

5 yellow

6 Dark yellow

7 Yellow-brown

8 Yellow-brown

9 Black-purple

10 Starts as a pale blue but quickly turns dark

Data

Trial Time (in seconds)

1 210

1 180

2 80

3 60

4 80

5 100

6 53

7 32

8 44

9 62

10 30

Calculations
Conclusion

Analysis Questions

1. Explain how increasing the temperature had an effect on your reaction.

Increasing the temperature caused our reaction rate to increase. An increased

temperature causes molecules to move faster, thus having more collisions,

resulting in a higher reaction rate.

a) Draw a Maxwell-Boltzmann curve showing room temperature vs. increased temperature.

2. Explain how adding a catalyst affect your reaction.

By adding the catalyst in this experiment, copper, we lowered the activation

energy and cut out time down to almost 1/4th of trial 1. Thus, we saw the change

in color earlier.
a) Draw a Maxwell-Boltzmann curve showing an uncatalyzed reaction vs. a catalyzed

reaction

3. If you did not get whole numbers for your rate orders, explain possible sources of error.

When completing our final calculations, my groups data resulted in a rate order

of zero for [H+] when it should have been 2. Some possible sources of error could

have been incorrect calculations or measurements during the pre-lab as well as

inaccurate timing.

4. Using collision theory, explain what was happening during the reaction on a molecular

level.

The volume of the container remained constant throughout the entire experiment.

Thus, an increase in the amount of solutions caused particles to be closer together,

thus colliding more and causing more reactions. Also, the addition of heat due to

the hot plate increased the speed at which the particles were colliding. When we

added the catalyst, the activation energy decreased. All three of these things

allowed for an increased reaction rate.

Syllabus Questions

1. What did the lab demonstrate? Did you achieve the desired purpose?

This lab demonstrated the effects of an increase in temperature or the use of a

catalyst. We achieved the desired purpose of finding the order of each reactant as

well as the rate law, including the rate constant.

2. What were the results? When appropriate, include numerical values from the experiment

and how they compare to the actual value.

Our overall reaction rate ended up being R= 25 [I-] [BrO3-]. However, [H+] was

supposed to have an order of 2. Thus, the rate law should have been R= k[I-]

[BrO3-] [H+]2.

3. Include possible sources of error. Why did your experimental value differ from the actual

value?

Some possible sources of error could have been incorrect calculations or

measurements during the pre-lab as well as inaccurate timing. Our values that

allowed us to find the rate order for [H+] could have been off due to an inaccuracy

in the original calculations that determined how much we needed or due to an

inaccurate measurement of what we actually needed.

4. What did you learn from this experiment? Were there new techniques or equipment used

or discussed?

In this experiment, I learned to make a solution as well as determine the

concentration, rate order, and reaction rate of a particular substance involved in a

 trial. We did not use new techniques for any of the calculations, however we had

never used the techniques for this type of situation.

AP Chemistry Lab Rubric

Part of the Description Point Points

Lab s Possib
Earn le
ed

Pre-Lab Answered all question in lab document as 60 60

Assignment instructed; questions are answered correctly

Pre-Lab Included in the lab notebook: name, lab title, date, 10 10

Checklist name(s) of lab partner(s), purpose statement,
materials list

Procedure Procedure is listed concisely and clearly. 10 10

Corrections are made to note any changes in the
given procedure.

Data All data is clearly listed or is in table format. Data 10 10

is labeled with appropriate units.

Neatness All information is legible, easy to read, and easy to 10 10

follow

Data Data analysis includes sample calculations when 48 50

Analysis necessary. All work is shown, with answers
clearly marked and in correct units.

Conclusion All conclusion/post lab questions are answered in 50 50

complete sentences.
Grade - 198/200 = 99