Rates of Reaction

Coursework - Rates of Reaction

Research

The rate of reaction tells us how quickly a chemical reaction takes place.

It is important for people in industry to know how fast a reaction goes. They have to know exactly how much of their product they can make each hour, day or week. In a shampoo factory, the rate might be 100 bottles per minute.

We can't work out the rate of a reaction from its chemical equation. Equations can only tells us how much product we can get. They don't say how quickly it is made.

We can only find the rate of reaction by actually doing experiments.

During a reaction, we can only measure how much reactant is used up in a certain time. On the other hand, we might choose to measure how much product is formed in a certain time.

To find the speed or rate of reaction, you can divide the amount of marble chips ( in grams) by the time taken (in seconds). This would give you a reaction rate in grams per second.

What affects the Rate of Reaction ?

Surface Area - We find that small pieces of solids, especially powders, react faster than large pieces.

Concentration - As you increase the concentration of the reactant there are more particles in the same volume. Therefore there is a greater chance of reactant particles colliding and reacting with particles on the surface of the marble chips.

Temperature - When you heat something up the particles get more energy and move around faster. As they travel quicker, there are more collisions in a certain time. Therefore as we increase the temperature so does the rate of reaction.

Catalysts - A catalysts is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction. At the end of the reaction, the catalyst is chemically unchanged.

Calcium Carbonate + Hydrochloric Acid Calcium Chloride + Water + Carbon Dioxide

For my main experiment I am going investigate concentration. This is because I think with the restriction of equipment at school it will be the easiest to do.

Preliminary Work

I am going to do my preliminary work to find out what size marble chips I am going to use for my main experiment.

Equipment list

Stop Clock

Bowl

Delivery Tube

Hydrochloric