Kinetics

Lab: Measuring the Speed of a Reaction

Initial Question
You have seen instructions on bottles of medicine instructing you, for example, to take two capsules every four hours.
How do scientists come up with how often to take a medication? The answer is that they have done experiments that
quantify how quickly the medicine is metabolized by the body. In other words, they develop equations that predict how
long it will be before the concentration drops too low to have an effect on your symptoms. Such problems require
scientists to make quantitative predictions, that is, to find an equation for the reaction.
How do you determine the speed of a reaction?
Materials and Equipment
Data collection system

Beaker, 50-mL

Colorimeter

5.0 103 M Crystal violet (C25H30N3Cl), 10 mL

Cuvette

0.2 M Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), 10 mL

Test tubes (2), 20- to 25-mL

Distilled water for calibration, about 10 mL

Volumetric pipets (2), 10-mL

Beaker, 400-mL
Temperature Sensor

Kimwipes
Hot Plate
Ice

Safety
Add these important safety precautions to your normal laboratory procedures:

Sodium hydroxide is caustic and should be handled with special care. In case of contact with your skin, wash off
the sodium hydroxide with a large amount of water.

Crystal violet will stain skin and clothing, so be cautious in handling.

Getting Your Brain in Gear

1. Fill in the y-axis label that will result in a linear relationship for each order of reaction.

2. The compound crystal violet has a purple color in an aqueous solution. When it reacts with sodium hydroxide,
crystal violet fades to colorless.
C25H30N3Cl(aq)
(Purple)

+ OH (aq)

(C25H30N3Cl)OH (aq)
(Colorless)

a. What sensor could we use to measure the concentration of the crystal violet over time?

b. The reaction requires much more sodium hydroxide than crystal violet to react in a reasonable amount of time. The
sodium hydroxide solution to be used is about 50,000 times more concentrated than the crystal violet solution. Even if
all of the crystal violet is consumed, will the sodium hydroxide concentration change much?

c. If the sodium hydroxide concentration does not change much, what will the reaction order with respect to sodium
hydroxide be?

3. The crystal violet compound is, as the name suggests, a dark blue-purple color in solution. Its absorbance at 565 nm
is shown below as a function of concentration.

a. Why was 565 nm (green) light chosen to measure the absorbance?

b. Just using the graph, if you measure the absorbance of a solution to be 0.3, what is the concentration of crystal
violet?

c. Use the line of best fit to write an equation relating concentration and absorbance.
NOTE: The equation of the line of best fit is shown in the graph.

d. Solve this equation for the concentration.

e. If the absorbance was found to be 0.95, what is the concentration of crystal violet?

Procedure:
Collecting Kinetics Data
1. Connect the colorimeter and the temperature probe to the SPARKlink Air.
2. Turn on and connect the SPARKlink Air to your device.
a. Connect the Temperature Probe to the SPARKlink Air interface.
b. Turn on the SPARKlink Air using the black power button on the back of the SPARKlink Air.
c. Under the Settings on your iPad select Bluetooth.
d. Ensure that the Bluetooth is in the ON position on your iPad. Select the SPARKlink Air device that matches the
number on the back of the SPARKlink Air that your group is using. WAIT. You will see the device as Connected
when you have successful linked the SPARKlink Air to your iPad.
3. Open the SPARKvue App on your iPad and prepare for data collection.
a. WAIT UNTIL until the SPARKvue APP picks up the colorimeter that is connected to your SPARKlink Air device.
Because the Colorimeter is connected via an analog adapter, a box will pop up that says Assign Analog Adapter
Number 0. Choose Colorimeter. If it does not pick up your desired probe, close the app, return to settings,
return to Bluetooth, disconnect the SPARKlink, and then reconnect the SPARKlink.
b. Select Build.
c. Choose a Background Image that has two boxes.
d. One box should depict a graph. The second box should depict a data table.
4. Add a page by touching
at the top of the screen.
a. Choose a Background Image that has one box.
b. The box should display a meter read out (select 1.23).
c. Choose Select Measurement>Measurement>Temperature(from the sensors tab).

5. Go back to your page with the graph and data table by touching

6. Set up your graph to show time (on the x-axis) and absorbance (on the y-axis).
a. Touch one of the axis labels.
b. Horizontal Axis (x)
i. Measurement: Time
ii. Units: s
c. Vertical Axis (y)
i. Measurement > Sensors > Absorbance
d. Touch OK
7. Set up your data table to show time (in the first column) and absorbance (in the second column).
a. Touch the label for the first column.
i. Column: 1
ii. Measurement: Time
iii. Units: s
iv. Touch OK
b. Touch the label for the second column.
i. Column: 2
ii. Measurement: Absorbance
iii. Units: Blank (Absorbance does not have units as it is a ratio of the amount of light that passes
through a solution compared to the amount of light that is passed into it).
iv. Touch OK

8. When you have set up your graph and data table, touch the sampling options button
each run.
a. Sampling Mode: Periodic
b. Sample Rate: 10
c. Sample Rate Unit: seconds
d. Condition: Stop after duration
e. Value: 180
f. Units: s

to set the duration of

9. Calibrate the colorimeter:

i. When the Colorimeter comes on, the liquid crystal display (LCD) shows Please calibrate on the second row.
ii. Fill a clean cuvette with distilled water and cap the cuvette. (The clear cuvette is a control or reference that
accounts for the small amount of light scattered or reflected by the walls of the cuvette.)
iii. On the Colorimeter, press the Select button and the Start/Stop button at the same time.
Result: The Colorimeters LCD will show Insert reference then push SELECT.
iv. Place the capped cuvette inside the Colorimeter. Make sure that the clear sides of the cuvette (without
ridges) are lined up with the light path in the Colorimeter. Close the lid on the Colorimeter.
v. On the Colorimeter, press the Select button.
Result: The Colorimeter will automatically calibrate itself for all four wavelengths assuming that the
light passing through the clear cuvette represents 100% Transmittance. (The automatic calibration
takes only a few seconds.) The Colorimeters LCD will show CAL done, push SELECT or START.
vi. For this experiment, select the Green wavelength (565nm)
NOTE: This step tells the colorimeter to record this solution as having zero absorbance. You do not need to repeat this
step unless the data collection interface turns off before you collect your data.
10. Obtain two 5.00 mL volumetric pipets. Pipet 5.00 mL of the crystal violet solution into a test tube and 5.00 mL of
0.20 M NaOH solution into a second test tube.
11. Place the test tubes in the water bath that your group has been assigned. Let your test tubes sit in the water bath to
equilibrate to the temperature of the bath for five minutes. Be sure to record the temperature of the bath you are using
in your data table.
12. Read this entire step completely before removing your test tubes from the water bath and before you carry it out.
You will need to MOVE QUICKLY in order to get good results.
a. Push Start ON THE BLACK COLORIMETER BOX. You should see the word RUN in the liquid crystal display ON
THE BLACK COLORIMETER BOX.
b.Pour the crystal violet and sodium hydroxide solutions into a 50-mL beaker and swirl for 5 seconds or until the
solution appears homogeneous.
c.Fill the cuvette about 3/4 full with this solution and cap it. Place it in the colorimeter and start data collection
by pushing the

button. The button will change to orange,

. When data collection has finished, the

orange
will return to green
. This is your indication that the trial is complete. If you set up your device
correctly, you will have collected data for 180seconds.

Temperature: ______
Table 1: Determining the order of reaction
Time
(s)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180

Absorbance
Green (565 nm)

Concentration (M)

ln(Concentration)

1/Concentration

13. Take a screen shot of your graph (Absorbance vs. Time) and paste it below.

Analyzing Model 1 Collecting Kinetics Data

1. Although the SPARKvue app has the capacity to do the data manipulation for you, we are going to practice with our
calculators since you get to use them on the exam! Put the time data as your L1 values and the absorbance data as your
L2 values. To have your calculator automatically determine the concentration of crystal violet from the green absorbance
we must give the L3 column a formula. Input this formula at the top of your L3 column, press enter, and then record the
values in the data table above under concentration.
NOTE: If you are not sure which equation to use, look back at your answer to the Getting Your Brain in Gear questions
that relates the concentration of crystal violet to absorbance.

The Coefficient of Determination, r2

The coefficient of determination, r2, is useful because it gives the proportion of the variance (fluctuation) of one
variable that is predictable from the other variable. It is a measure that allows us to determine how certain one can
be in making predictions from a certain model/graph.
The coefficient of determination is the ratio of the explained variation to the total variation. The coefficient of
determination is such that 0 < r2 < 1, and denotes the strength of the linear association between x and y.
The coefficient of determination represents the percent of the data that is the closest to the line of best fit. For
example, if r = 0.922, then r2 = 0.850, which means that 85% of the total variation in y can be explained by the linear
relationship between x and y (as described by the regression equation). The other 15% of the total variation in y
remains unexplained.
The coefficient of determination is a measure of how well the regression line represents the data. If the regression
line passes exactly through every point on the scatter plot, it would be able to explain all of the variation. The
further the line is away from the points, the less it is able to explain.
2. Complete a linear regression calculation of your concentration vs. time data (L1 vs. L3). Sketch or take a picture of
your graph and attach it here of concentration versus time and record or attach the values in the Data Table. Can you, by
visual inspection alone, determine the order of the reaction? Why or why not? Record the equation and the value of the
coefficient of determination, r2, below.

4. To have your calculator automatically determine the ln[crystal violet] we must give the L4 column a formula. Input
ln(L3) as the formula at the top of your L4 column, press enter, and then record the values in the data table above under
ln(concentration). Because your L3 column represents your concentration data, you are telling your calculator to take
ln(concentration).
5. Complete a linear regression calculation of your ln(concentration) vs. time data (L1 vs. L4). Sketch or take a picture of
your graph and attach it here of ln(concentration) versus time and record or attach the values in the Data Table. Can
you, by visual inspection alone, determine the order of the reaction? Why or why not? Record the equation and the
value of the coefficient of determination, r2, below.

6. To have your calculator automatically determine the 1/[crystal violet] we must give the L5 column a formula. Input
1/(L3) as the formula at the top of your L5 column, press enter, and then record the values in the data table above under
1/(concentration). Because your L3 column represents your concentration data, you are telling your calculator to take
1/(concentration).
7. Complete a linear regression calculation of your 1/(concentration) vs. time data (L1 vs. L5). Sketch or take a picture
of your graph and attach it here of 1/concentration versus time and record or attach the values in the Data Table. Can
you, by visual inspection alone, determine the order of the reaction? Why or why not? Record the equation and the
value of the coefficient of determination, r2, below.

8. Based on the line of best fit, what is the value of the rate constant k for this reaction?

9. Based on your answer to the previous question, write the integrated rate law for the crystal violet (CV) + sodium
hydroxide reaction.

10. Based on your equation and the value of k, at what time after the reaction started would the concentration drop
from the initial concentration of 5.0 106 M to 5.0 107 M?

11. How does temperature affect the rate of a reaction? Does the temperature of the experiment appear in the
integrated rate law?

Testing the Effect of Temperature on the Rate Constant

Graphs of reactions carried out at different temperatures. You will need to collaborate with a group that performed
the reaction at a different temperature.

Analyzing the Results

1. Which temperature caused the fastest reaction?
2. Which temperature produced the greatest slope?
3. What is the rate law constant for each temperature?

4. Is the rate constant affected by temperature?

Connecting to Theory
Svante Arrhenius suggested that chemical reactions need a certain amount of energy to get started. This energy is
required to break bonds and align particles so that they are in the proper orientation for new bonds to form in the
products. This energy is called the activation energy and is symbolized as Ea.
He realized that to calculate the Activation Energy, the reaction would have to be performed at two different
temperatures, T. It would also require two rate constants, k1 and k2 that corresponds to the temperatures. His equation
is listed below.
k
E 1
1
ln 2 a

T2
R T1
k1

The R in the equation is the gas constant, 8.31

J
. Calculate the activation energy from your data.
K mol

Applying Your Knowledge

Consider the redox reaction between potassium permanganate and sodium oxalate. The net ionic reaction is

2MnO4 (aq) + 5C2O4 (aq) + 16H (aq) 2Mn (aq) + 8H2O(l) + 10CO2(g)
+

2+

This reaction is used to titrate for oxalate, but for that purpose it is conducted at 60 C, where it reacts very quickly. At
room temperature the reaction is slow and the kinetics can be measured. However, the potassium permanganate is too
dark at the relevant concentrations to measure the reaction progression with colorimetry. Suggest what sensor (or
sensors) you might use instead to measure this reaction. What might the data you collect from that sensor look like?