Lab #

Title: Rates of Reaction

Aim: To investigate the effect of concentration on the rate of reaction

Apparatus and Materials: Stopwatch, beakers, conical flask, measuring

cylinders, sodium thiosulfate, hydrochloric acid, paper, teat dropper, black
marker, distilled water.

Method:

1. Draw an X on the small of piece of paper using a black marker.

2. Measure 10cm3 of Hydrochloric acid and pour in the conical flask.
3. Place the conical flask on the sheet of paper marked with the X.
4. Measure 10cm3 of Sodium Thiosulfate and pour it into the same conical
flask.
5. Swirl the conical flask and start the stopwatch.
6. Stop the stopwatch when the black X is no longer visible from the
mouth of the conical flask.
7. Throw out the solution and wash out the conical flask with distilled
water.
8. Repeat the process by reducing the sodium thiosulfate concentration
by 1cm3 and increasing the water by 1cm3.
9. Repeat the process six times by reducing the sodium thiosulfate
concentration by 1cm3 and increasing the water by 1cm3.

Observations:

Table showing the volume of Thiosodium sulfate, volume of

HCL, volume and the time and rate in which the reaction took
place.
Experiment Volume of Volume of Volume Time/ Rate
No. of s 1/t/s-1
Na2S2O3/cm HCl/cm3
3
H2O/cm3

1 10 10 - 22.42 0.045

2 9 10 1 24.35 0.041

3 8 10 2 28.24 0.035

4 7 10 3 34.16 0.029

5 6 10 4 42.00 0.024

6 5 10 5 60.20 0.017

7 4 10 6 72.52 0.014
Discussion:

The rate of reaction is the speed at which reactants or products are used up
or formed over a period of time. The rate of a chemical reaction is dependent
on various factors such as concentration, pressure, and surface area, and
temperature, presence of a catalyst and the presence of light. In this
experiment, the concentration was the factor present. The concentration
refers to the number of particles in a given volume. As the reaction
proceeded, the concentration of the reactants decreases as they are used up
and the concentration of the products increased as they were formed. For
any reaction to occur the reactant must be in motion. As the particles in the
reactants move, they collide with each other. Particles which possess a
certain amount of energy will be able to break the bonds or the other
reacting particles; the energy that is needed for this to occur is known as
activation energy. Collisions between the particles must also have the correct
orientation, i.e the atoms must be aligned in a particular way to allow new
bonds to be formed. The concentration is directly proportional to the rate of
the reaction; a graph was plotted, where aqueous sodium thiosulfate was
against 1 over time and a line of best fit was found to represent the
proportionality. An increase in reactant concentration means that there are
more reactant particles present in a given volume. This means that there
were more frequent and effective collisions. In the experiment as time
increased, the volume of thiosulfate decreased. This shows that over time,
the reactant is being used up. The equation that represents the reaction
between the sodium thiosulfate and the Hydrochloric acid is: Na2S2o3 (aq) +
HCL (aq) 2NaCl (aq) + SO2 (g) + S (s) + H2O (l). The reactants were both colorless.
After the reaction took place, the product was a cloudy light yellow solution
and it had a pungent smell.

Precautions:

- Ensure that that the conical flask and measuring cylinders are
cleaned before each measurement is taken.
- Ensure that readings are taken at eye level.
- Ensure the stopwatch is started at the same time as the reactants
are mixed.

Sources of error:
 - The timer was not started at the same time as one reactant was
added to the other
- The measurements were not fully accurate

Conclusion:

As concentration increases the rate of reaction increases and as the

concentration decreases the rate of reaction decreases; Concentration is
directly proportional to the rate of reaction.

Reflection:

Through this lab, I have learnt that different reactions can happen at
different rates. Reactions that happen slowly have a low rate of reaction.
Reactions that happen quickly have a high rate of reaction. For example, the
chemical weathering of rocks is a very slow reaction: it has a low rate of
reaction. Explosions are very fast reactions: they have a high rate of
reaction.