Activation Energy Essay

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Date : 18/02/2013 Micro-scale Determination of the Activation Energy of the Hydrogen Peroxide-Iodide Reaction Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to determine the rate at which hydrogen peroxide decomposes to water and oxygen with the use of an iodide catalyst. Using the logarithmic form of the Arrhenius equation: ln k’ = -Ea/RT + ln A . the activation energy was determined to be 52.3 kJ/mol. It was also found that increasing the temperature also increased the rate, as there was more energy available to increase the speed of the reaction. Introduction: The purpose of this experiment was to determine the Activation Energy of the Hydrogen Peroxide-Iodide reaction. This was found by measuring the rate at which the reaction occurred and plotting this against the natural log of the number of moles of hydrogen peroxide remaining to find the slope. The reaction is carried out in a Potassium Iodide solution, which serves as a catalyst to the reaction. A catalyst is a chemical which increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed. Catalysts operate by decreasing the value of the activation energy for the reaction. [1] The iodide ions lower the activation energy, making it easier for the reactants to convert to the products and vice versa, hence speeding up the reaction. We use an adaptation of the Arrhenius equation ln k’ = -Ea/RT + ln A . where k’ is the rate constant, Ea is the activation energy, R is the universal gas constant and T is temperature. [2] to determine the Activation Energy. This equation is simply the equation of a line (y = mx + c) and from the graph the Activation Energy can easily be calculated. Procedure: As per lab manual. [3] Calculations: 0.4977 M sodium thiosulphate 1.01ml rough 1.04ml final volume of Na2S2O3 0.4977 mole/L -> 0.004977mol/ml x 1.04ml = 5.176 x 10-4 moles =

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