Rate of reaction

1. What is rate of reaction

2. Synthesising factors affecting the
rate of reaction

RATE OF REACTION

The rate of reaction tells us how

quickly a chemical reaction happens.
If a reaction occurs rapidly, the
rate of reaction is high.
The speed of reaction can be
measured by either measuring
i. The quantity of a product with time or
ii. The quantity of a reactant with time.
The quantity can be number of moles,
mass of solid, volume of gas or
concentration of a solution

e.g. :

5 g of magnesium ribbon reacts

completely with dilute hydrochloric
acid. What is/are the quantity reactant
or product that can be measured?
Hint : the changes must be visible
and measurable !
Answers :
mass of magnesium
Volume of hydrogen gas

Experiment to determine rate of reaction

between calcium carbonate and
hydrochloric acid
Measure volume of gas released in time
Using the water displacement method
to collect the gas
Apparatus needed are :
1. Conical flask
2. Delivery tube
3. Burette
4. Basin
5. Retort stand

Set up apparatus

Results of experiment
Time / s
Burette
reading / cm3

0
48.9
0

Volume of gas
liberated / cm3
See example of result

30

60

41.40 37.15

90
34.4
0

WAYS OF MEASURING THE

RATE
Two methods can be used to
determine the rate of reaction,
they are :
1. average rate which is the rate of
reaction over an interval of time.
2. instantaneous rate which is the
exact rate of reaction at any given
time

AVERAGE RATE
Average rate
of reaction

change in amount of
reactant or product
Time taken for the change
to happen

Average rate of
reaction in the first 2
minute

3
16.5
cm
/ 120 s
=

0.14 cm3s-1

 The instantaneous rate of

reaction is determine by :
a. drawing a tangent to the curve
at the given time
b. finding the gradient of this
tangent
Therefore,
Rate of reaction
at a given time = gradient of the tangent
to the curve at the given time

DISCUSSION
The curve at 2nd minutes is steeper
than at 4th minutes
Rate of reaction at 2nd minutes is
higher than at 4th minutes
The maximum volume of gas shows
that the reaction has been completed

FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE RATE

OF REACTION

i.

Five factors are :

effect of particle size

ii. effect of temperature

iii. effect of concentration
iv. effect of catalyst
v. effect of pressure

THE COLLISION THEORY

Collision theory states that :
a. A chemical reaction occurs when reactant
particles collide with each other.
b. Not all collision will result in the
formation of products.
c. A collision that lead to a chemical reaction
are known as effective collision.
d. Effective collision must satisfy two
conditions:
i. the reactant particles have enough
energy to overcome the activation
energy, Ea of the reaction
ii. the particles collide in the proper
orientation.

THE COLLISION THEORY

When the frequency of collision
between particles of reactant
increase, the frequency of effective
collision between particle will also
increase
When the frequency of effective
collision increases, the rate of
reaction will also increase.

SIZE OF REACTANT
A smaller size of reactant has a higher
rate of reaction
The smaller pieces of solid have a larger
total surface area exposed for collision
As a result, the frequency of collision
will increase
This causes frequency of effective
collision to increase
Hence the rate of reaction will increase

Total surface area = 4 x 6

= 24 cm2

Total surface area = 2(4 x 2 )+ 2 (2 x 4)

= 32 cm2

Total surface area = 4(2 x 2 )+ 4 (1 x 4)

= 40 cm2

EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION
A reactant with higher concentration
has a higher rate of reaction
When the concentration is increase,
the number of particles per unit
volume will increase.
As a result, the frequency of collision
will increase
This causes frequency of effective
collision to increase
Hence the rate of reaction will increase

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE
An increase of temperature will
increase the rate of reaction
An increase of temperature will cause
the kinetic energy to increase
As a result, the reactant particle will
move faster and collide more often
This causes frequency of collision to
increase
Hence the frequency of effective
collision rate of reaction will increase
The rate of reaction will increase

EFFECT OF CATALYST
When a positive catalyst is used, the rate of
reaction will increase
Catalyst will enable reaction to occur
through an alternative path with lower
activation energy.
As a result, more colliding particle can
overcome the lower activation energy.
The frequency of collision will increase
This causes frequency of effective collision
to increase
Hence the rate of reaction will increase

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