SAT Chemistry Rates of Chemical Reactions - Factors Affecting Reaction Rates

SAT Chemistry Rates of Chemical Reactions - Factors Affecting Reaction Rates

Five important factors control the rate of a chemical reaction. These are summarized below.
1. The nature of the reactants. In chemical reactions, some bonds break and others form. Therefore, the rates of chemical reactions should be affected by the nature of the bonds in the reacting substances. For example, reactions between ions in an aqueous solution may take place in a fraction of a second. Thus, the reaction between silver nitrate and sodium chloride is very fast. The white silver chloride precipitate appears immediately. In reactions where many covalent bonds must be broken, reaction usually takes place slowly at room temperatures. The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen happens slowly at room temperatures. In fact, about 17 minutes is required for half the peroxide in a 0.50 M solution to decompose.
2. The surface area exposed. Since most reactions depend on the reactants coming into contact, the surface exposed proportionally affects the rate of the reaction.
3. The concentrations. The reaction rate is usually proportional to the concentrations of the reactants. The usual dependence of the reaction rate on the concentration of the reactants can simply be explained by theorizing that, if more molecules or ions of the
reactant are in the reaction area, then there is a greater chance that more reactions will occur. This idea is further developed in the collision theory discussed below.
4. The temperature. A temperature increase of 10°C above room temperature usually causes the reaction rate to double or triple. The basis for this generality is that, as the temperature increases, the average kinetic energy of the particles involved increases. As a result the particles move faster and have a greater probability of hitting other reactant particles. Because the particles have more energy, they can cause an effective collision, resulting in the chemical reaction that forms the product substance.
5. The presence of a catalyst. It is a substance that increases or decreases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. The catalyst provides an alternative pathway by which the reaction can proceed and in which the activation energy is lower. It thus increases the rate at which the reaction comes to completion or equilibrium. Generally, the term is used for a substance that increases reaction rate (a positive catalyst). Some reactions can be slowed down by negative catalysts.

ACTIVATION ENERGY
Often a reaction rate may be increased or decreased by affecting the activation energy, that is, the energy necessary to cause a reaction to occur. This is shown graphically below for the forward reaction.
sat-chemistry-rates-of-chemical-reactions-factors-affecting-reaction-rates-(220-1)

A catalyst, as explained in the preceding section, is a substance that is introduced into a reaction to speed up the reaction by changing the amount of activation energy needed. The effect of a catalyst used to speed up a reaction can be shown as follows:
sat-chemistry-rates-of-chemical-reactions-factors-affecting-reaction-rates-(220-2)

REACTION RATE LAW
The relationship between the rate of a reaction and the masses (expressed as concentrations) of the reacting substances is summarized in the Law of Mass Action. It states that the rate of a chemical reaction is proportional to the product of the concentrations of the reactants. For a general reaction between A and B, represented by
aA + bB ->...

the rate law expression is
r ∝ [A]a [B]b

or, inserting a constant of proportionality that mathematically changes the expression to an equality, we have
r = k[A]a [B]b

Here k is called the specific rate constant for the reaction at the temperature of the reaction.
The exponents a and b may be added to give the total reaction order. For example:
H2(g) + I2(g) -> 2HI(g)
r = k[H2]1 [I2l1
The sum of the exponents is 1 + 1 = 2, and therefore we have a second-order reaction.

Reaction Mechanism and Rates of Reaction
The beginning of this chapter stated that the reaction rate is usually proportional to the con-centrations of the reactants. This occurs because some reactions do not directly occur between the reactants but may go through intermediate steps to get to the final product. The series of steps by which the reacting particles rearrange themselves to form the products of a chemical reaction is called the reaction mechanism. For example:
sat-chemistry-rates-of-chemical-reactions-factors-affecting-reaction-rates-(221-1)

Notice that the reactions of steps 1 and 3 occur relatively fast compared with the reaction of step 2. Now suppose that we increase the concentration of C. This will make the reaction of step 3 go faster, but it will have little effect on the speed of the overall reaction since step 2 is the rate-determining step. If, however, the concentration of A is increased, then the overall reaction rate will increase because step 2 will be accelerated. Knowing the reaction mechanism provides the basis for predicting the effect of a concentration change of a reactant on the overall rate of reaction. Another way of determining the effect of concentration changes is actual experimentation.

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