CHAPTER: CHEMICAL REACTIONS

 A chemical reaction is a process in which substances called reactants

combine or break down to form new substances called products.
E.g A + B C + D; in this equation, A and B are called
reactants while C and D are called products.
 In a chemical reaction, atoms in reactants are rearranged to form new
bonds or break already existing bonds to form new substances as products.
 Chemical reactions occur at different rates; some reactions occur very
slowly (e.g rusting an iron nail, ripening of fruits) while others occur very fast
(e.g explosion of sodium metal in water).
 Thus Rate of a chemical reaction is how fast reactants are used up or  A stop clock is then started; and the volume of carbon dioxide collected in
products are formed with time. the syringe is recorded over regular intervals of time
Mathematically:  A graph of volume of gas produced against time is plotted.
Amount of product formed/reactant used up  The rate of reaction at any time, t is determined by drawing a tangent to the
Rate of reaction =
time curve of the graph is drawn. The gradient of the tangent gives the rate of
reaction.

UNITS FOR RATE OF A CHEMICAL REACTION

When mass of products or reactant is measured, units are grammes per
second (g s-1). When volume is measured, units are cubic centimeters per
second (cm3 s-1)
MEASURING RATE OF A CHEMICAL REACTION
(a) Measuring amount of product such as volume of gas evolved
Example:
Measuring the volume of carbon dioxide evolved in the reaction between Sample results
dilute hydrochloric acid and calcium carbonate.
Time (s) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
 A known volume of dilute hydrochloric acid is placed into a conical flask. Vol. of CO2 0 10 20 22 25.5 29.2 32 32
(cm3)
 a known mass of calcium carbonate is added to the acid. Immediately a gas
Task:
syringe is connected to the conical flask using a rubber bang and a tube.
(a) Plot a graph of volume of carbon dioxide produced against time.
Equation: CaCO3(s) + 2HCl (aq) CaCl2(aq) + H2O (l) + CO2(g)
 (b) Use your graph to;
(i) find the volume of CO2 produced at 8 seconds.
(ii) determine the rate of reaction at 12 seconds. Effect of temperature on the rate of chemical reactions
 Increasing temperature; increases the speed of movement
(b) Measuring the mass of reactants remaining. (kinetic energy) of the reacting particles; so that they collide many times and
with more energy. this increases the rate of reaction.
 Considering example in method(a); when the conical flask is placed on a
weighing scale; and mass of the reaction mixture is noted and recorded  Decreasing temperature; reduces the speed of movement of reacting
at regular intervals of time; particles; so that they collide few times and with less energy. This reduces
the rate of reaction.
 A graph of mass of reactant(s) remaining against time can be plotted
and used to determine the reaction rate at any time as gradient of the Example
tangent to the curve at that time.
Consider a reaction between dilute hydrochloric acid and calcium
carbonate carried out at room temperature and at 400C separately. Graphs
of volume of carbon dioxide evolved against time would be as illustrated
below.

FACTORS AFFECTING RATE OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS

 Such factors include; temperature, concentration of reactants, particle size
of the reactants, presence of a catalyst. These factors with variation make
reactions to either speed up or slow down.
Explaining effect of different factors on rate of chemical reactions using the
particle theory of matter.
Effect of concentration on rate of a chemical reaction
According to the kinetic theory; matter is made up of tiny particles that are in
constant random motion. Concentration is the amount of solute dissolved with in a solution.
During chemical reactions; reactant particles collide with each other; such that  A high concentration of the reactants; increases the number of reacting
chemical bonds are formed or broken; atoms re-arrange themselves; resulting particles; the number of collisions between them increases; thus rate of
into formation of new bonds; thus, new substances (products) are formed. reaction increases.
 Low concentration of reactants; reduces number of reacting particles; the rate of reaction; thus, reaction time increases.
number of collisions decreases; thus, rate of reaction decreases.

Example
Consider a reaction between dilute hydrochloric and sodium thiosulphate.

 This reaction yields a yellow suspension/precipitate due to formation of

insoluble sulphur.
Equation: Na2S2O3(aq) + 2HCl(aq) 2NaCl(aq) + SO2 + S(s) + H2O(l)

 The rate of this reaction can be determined by measuring the time taken
for the yellow precipitate to form completely.

 A conical flask containing the reaction mixture is placed on top of a

pencil cross mark written on a white piece of paper.

 The time for which the cross mark becomes invisible is noted and
recorded. The experiment is repeated using varying concentrations of
sodium thiosulphate solution.
Sample results

Concentration of Reaction time (s) Reaction rate

Na2S2O3 1
( ) (s-1)
time
0.10 M 22.5
0.08 M 27.3
0.06 M 35.1
0.04 M 60.0
0.02 M 159.1
Task:
(a) Complete the table by filling in reaction rate to 4 decimal places.
(b) Plot a graph of reaction time against concentration of Na2S2O3.
(c) Explain how concentration of Na2S2O3 relates with time of reaction.

 Reaction time increases with decreasing concentration of Na2S2O3. This is

because with decreasing concentration, the number of Na2S2O3 particles in the
reaction mixture decreases; producing less collisions; which slows down the