Report 2

Clock reaction

Zeinab Ahmed Elbhnsawi

193247

Submitted to: Dr. Ziad Khalifa

Physical Chemistry

Year 2, Chemical Engineering

The British University in Egypt

Paper format: APA style with BUE guidelines

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Abstract

The following lab report discusses the clock reaction which aim is Determination of the rate

constant and order of the sulphite-iodate reaction by preparing different volumes of sulphate and

two series with different iodate volumes, by plotting graphs and getting slope and intercept it was

found that the order of the reaction was 1.73, K in the first graph was 0.0001 and 0.00109 in the

second one.

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Table of contents

Abstract..........................................................................................................................................2

Table of contents............................................................................................................................3

Introduction....................................................................................................................................4

Experimental procedure...............................................................................................................6

Experimental results......................................................................................................................7

Finding N....................................................................................................................................7

Finding M....................................................................................................................................8

Discussion.....................................................................................................................................10

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................11

Sources of error............................................................................................................................12

References.....................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction

Reactions usually have different rates. Slow reactions maybe followed by faster ones

where the faster reactions never starts unless the slow one is completely finished. A period which

is between the start of the reaction and the start of the faster reaction can be defined as incubation

period. Incubation period can also be defined as the elapsed period between opposition to

chemicals or radiation (Incubation period, n.d.). It can be stated in the following two reactions

where the first one is the slow reaction in which all sulphate gets oxidized then the acid produced

completes the faster reaction.

3 H 2 S O3 + HI O 3 → 3 H 2 S O4 + HI

5 HI + HI O3 → 3 I 2 +3 H 2 O

The rate determining step can be considered as the slowest step inside the chemical reaction

where the speed of the reaction is found and calculated for the overall equation where the slowest

step of the reaction determines its rate as long as the equation has different steps with different

rates (Rate determining step, 2021).

Figure 1. rate determining step

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The rate of chemical reactions can be determined by many methods which are different in their

procedure and approach. One of these methods is the initial rates method where the initial rates

of the reaction is measured several times in order to see its variation so that the rate of the

chemical reaction can be calculated using certain relation where a set of tabulated data showing

concentrations of reactants and rate values where these data is used to establish a comparative

relation between different initial rates value in order to find other variables in the equation where

the following image shows an example of the set of values and the used rule where the data is

used to find values of x and y so that the rate law can be derived using the found values

(Fleming, 2021).

Another method is the method of incubation period where two reactions are present one is slow

and the other is rapid and the period from the start of the first to the second is named incubation

period that can be used to find the rate of the reaction setting different concentration of reactants

by using different volumes then adding iodate and calculating time of changing color of the

solution to tabulate two series of values to find the rate of the reaction from it using certain

equations (Lab Manual, 2021).

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Experimental procedure

1. Acid sulfite solution should be prepared using 2 grams of starch, mixed with 10 ml water

and added 100 ml of boiling water.

2. Let the solution cool, use a 250 ml flask with 25 ml water and add 1 ml of sulfuric acid

which is concentrated.

3. Weigh 0.315 grams of sodium sulfite and dissolve it in the smallest water amount.

4. Pour solution in flask carefully then fill it with distilled water.

5. 100 ml of 0.02 potassium iodate solution is prepared.

6. The following two series of concentration of sulfite should be prepared.

No. of flask First series Second series

Sulfite in Water in Sulfite in Water in

ml ml ml ml

1 25 70 25 68

2 20 75 20 73

3 15 80 15 78

4 10 85 10 83

7. Volume of series 1 in 95 ml and series 2 is 93 ml.

8. In series one, 5 ml of iodate is added, and the stopwatch is turned on, the incubation

period is then determined when color changes to blue.

9. In series two, 7 ml of iodate is added, and the same previous step is repeated.

10. Calculations are performed.

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Experimental results

Concentration of the mixture is calculated for each volume of sulphite using the following

relation,

(MV)1 = (MV)2

Finding N

Where concentration of sulphite was calculated and found to be 0.01 M,

Flask Series 1

number T (sec) C R Log R Log C

1 35 0.0025 7.14*10-5 -4.14 -2.6

2 47.88 0.002 4.177*10-5 -4.379 -2.7

3 69.61 0.0015 2.15*10-5 -4.66 -2.8

4 110 0.001 9.09*10-6 -5.04 -3

By plotting the following graph between log R on y-axis and log C on x-axis,

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The slope which refers to n was found to be equal 1.6 and the intercept will be at -4 which equals

log K so that K equals 0.0001.

Finding M

To find m, concentration should be calculated to both volumes of iodate in both series using the

following equation,

(MV)1 = (MV)2

For series 1, concentration was calculated as,

0.02*5 = M*100

Where M1 = 0.001

For series 2,

0.02*7 = M*100

Where M2 = 0.0014

Then using the following table,

Series 1 Series 2

T (s) R C Log R Log C T (s) R C Log R Log C

35 7.142*10-5 0.001 -4.14 -3 23.5 10.6*10-5 0.001 -3.97 -2.85

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By plotting the same graph as in calculating n,

The slope which refers to m was found to be equal 1.133 and the intercept will be at -3.96 which

is log K so that K equals 0.00109.

Order of reaction = n + m = 2.73.

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Discussion

By tabulating the two series results, plotting the curves and finding the needed variables. It was

concluded that the rate of the reaction depends on the concentration of the iodate. In the

experiment, two equation occurs as follows,

−¿+2 H 2 O ¿
−¿→ I 3 ¿
H 2 O 2+3 I

2−¿ ¿
−¿ +S O ¿
2−¿→3 I 4 6
¿
−¿+2 S2 O3 ¿
I 3

So that by performing the procedure in which the color of the solution discharges indicating the

end of the reaction. The concentration of H 2SO4 is set to four different concentrations in each of

the two series and concentration of the iodate differs in each series. By performing reaction and

detecting time, it was found that the rate of the rection goes faster as the concentration increases

which proves that the reaction’s rate depends on the concentration of the iodate which is shown

in the plotted graphs in the results section.

The order of the reaction differs according to the iodate concentration such that the rate differs so

that by changing the rate, the interception and the slope changes so that the order of the reaction

changes.

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Conclusion

The aim of the experiment is to find the order of the reaction by performing clock reaction using

sulfuric acid and iodate, using different volumes of sulfuric acid and by adding iodate the

solution color discharges where time is calculated and tabulated in the form of two series where

the volume of iodate in the series differs, the tabulated values are used to calculate log rate and

concentration and plot graphs for series one and two between both logs.

By plotting the graphs, the slope indicates m and n value and the intercept stands for the k value

which is the rate constant so that the aim of the experiment was fulfilled and its order is known.

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Sources of error

R2 in first graph equals 0.9996 and for second graph equals 1 whereas the value of R-squared

approaches to 1, the more accurate the results are. So that the values on both graphs plotted are

very accurate.

Errors in the experiment can be errors in calibration of the stopwatch where a delay in time may

happen, also errors in the concentrations of the used substances may occur where the stopwatch

error can be avoided by using more than one time to make sure results are accurate and the

concentration errors may be avoided by being accurate in preparing the concentrations.

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References

1. (2021). Retrieved from Lab Manual.

2. Fleming, P. (2021, march 9). The Method of Initial Rates. Retrieved from chemistry

libretexts:

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook

_Maps/Physical_Chemistry_(Fleming)/11%3A_Chemical_Kinetics_I/

11.07%3A_The_Method_of_Initial_Rates

3. Incubation period. (n.d.). Retrieved from science daily:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/incubation_period.htm

4. Rate determining step. (2021, june 16). Retrieved from chemistry libretexts:

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook

_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Kinetics/

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03%3A_Rate_Laws/3.02%3A_Reaction_Mechanisms/

3.2.03%3A_Rate_Determining_Step

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