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Science Skills2

The document investigates the effect of surface area on the rate of reaction between oxalic acid in rhubarb and potassium manganate. It concludes that smaller pieces of rhubarb result in a faster reaction time, supporting the hypothesis that reduced surface area increases reaction rates. The experiment highlights the importance of accurate measurements and calculations in determining reaction times.

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11 views3 pages

Science Skills2

The document investigates the effect of surface area on the rate of reaction between oxalic acid in rhubarb and potassium manganate. It concludes that smaller pieces of rhubarb result in a faster reaction time, supporting the hypothesis that reduced surface area increases reaction rates. The experiment highlights the importance of accurate measurements and calculations in determining reaction times.

Uploaded by

Orion
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The effect of surface area

on the rate of reaction


AIM: To investigate the effect of surface area on rate of
reaction using oxalic acid in rhubarb to reduce and
decolourise potassium manganate solution

Hypothesis: The smaller the rhubarb is cut, the


smaller the time of the reaction

Introduction
Rhubarbs holds high amount of oxalic acid (C2H2O4), especially in the leaves, this
is why they cannot be consumed unlike the actual vegetable. The poisonous
leaves can cause kidney stones, kidney failure and other mild gastrointestinal
symptoms. Oxalic acid is not the only acid contained in rhubarb and malic acid
contributes to the sour taste of the vegetable.
Collision Theory states that for a chemical reaction to occur, the reacting
particles must collide with one another. The rate of the reactions depends on
the frequency of collisions. The theory also tells that reacting particles often
collide without reacting. Oxalate ions can react with acidified potassium
manganate. In this reaction the solution turns from purple to colourless. We are
trying to find out how surface area affects this reaction.

Method
1. Cut a piece of the stem of some rhubarb, weight it and record it in your
table, making sure to keep the mass the mass the same each time.
2. Measure the dimensions of your piece of rhubarb using a ruler and record
this in the table.
3. Write down the concentration of the potassium manganate that you are
using
4. Measure a sensible volume of it into a suitable container.
5. Add your piece of rhubarb, start the timer and measure how long it takes
for the colour to change. Record this value in your table.
6. Repeat the experiment but cut your piece of rhubarb into two equal
pieces.
7. Repeat again for 3,4,5 and 6 equally sized pieces.
Results
Number Surface Volume Time for reaction to finish Average SA: V
of area of of (s) rate
pieces rhubarb rhubarb (1/s)
rhubarb (mm2) (mm3)
is cut
into
1 2 3 Averag
e

1 40 16 42.5 42.6 43. 42.7 0.0234 5:2


1
2 48 8 37.1 49.9 36. 36.9 0.0271 6:1
7
4 64 4 27.8 27.1 27. 27.5 0.0364 16:1
5
8 112 2 15.3 20.5 15. 15.2 0.0658 56:1
2
Analysis
The aim of this experiment was to find out how the surface area affects the how
fast the reaction happens. A prediction was not needed as what would happen
the rhubarb was already established, but it was needed to measure the time it
would take instead. In the results above (the group results as the results from
said experiment had multiple anomalies) the smaller the rhubarb is cut the
shorter the amount of time it takes for the reaction to happen. This is what was
expected as the smaller the surface area, the easier and quicker it is for the
potassium manganate to produce a reaction with the rhubarb. During the
experiment, the problems that occurred was the calculation of the volume and
surface area, when the rhubarb was cut. To further improve the experiment, the
volume and surface area of the rhubarb should be calculated properly. The time
should also be more carefully, so that it is easier to create a graph and result
table.

Conclusion
The purpose of this experiment was to investigate how the surface area affects
the rate of reaction of decolourisation in potassium manganate using oxalic acid
in rhubarb. We found out that the smaller the surface area, the smaller the rate
of reaction. This supports our hypothesis that the smaller we cut the rhubarb
the smaller amount of time it would take for the change to happen.

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