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Introduction:
The purpose of this lab is to determine how different factors affect the rate of a reaction, particularly temperature and concentration of the solvent.
The rate of a reaction is defined by
Rate = k [A]m[B]n
Where k is a constant defined as follows. (Arrhenius Equation)
k= C e^(-Ea/RT)
The following formula can also be derived form the Arrhenius equation.
kT =2.303 log[1/ (1-( %completed/100))]
From the experiment data, the k value can be determined to find which factors affect the rate of the reaction.
The overall experiment involves mixing C4H9Cl (t-butyl chloride) with one-tenth an equivalent of NaOH (sodium hydroxide) solution. This allows the HCl that is generated during hydrolysis to neutralize the NaOH. In which a color indicator (bromophenol) will be used to note the duration it takes for 10% of the halide to hydrolyze.
Four separate experiments will be run to measure how each factor affects the reaction time. Each experiment will be repeated three times, and the average time will be recorded. The first will be performed at room temperature, the third will be performed at approximately 15ºC above room temperature, and the fourth will be performed at approximately 10ºC below room temperature. The second experiment will be performed with half of the concentration of the solvent.

Experimental

In this experiment 3.0-mL of a 0.1M solution of t-butyl chloride in acetone was placed in a 25-mL Erlenmeyer flask. A pipet was used to measure this solution. The flask was placed on white paper so that the color change could be noticed easier. Then, using a graduated 1.0-mL pipet 0.30-mL of the 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution was placed into a 50-mL Erlenmeyer flask. Diluted water in the amount of 6.70-mL was added into this flask as well. Two to three drops of bromphenol blue indicator solution was then added to this...