Saturday, November 29, 2025

Chemistry Chapter 22: Reaction Kinetics

 CHEMISTRY KEYWORDS:

Rate Constant: Proportionality constant, k, in a rate equation.

Rate Equation: An equation showing the relationship between the rate constant and the concentrations of the species that affect the rate of reaction.

Order of Reaction: Power to which the concentration of the reactant is raised in the rate equation. If a rate is directly proportional to concentration, it is first order. If the rate is directly proportional to the square of the concentration, it is a second-order reaction.

Limiting reactant: Reactant which is not in excess. The reaction will stop when the limiting reactant is all used up.

Rate-determining Step: Slowest step in a reaction mechanism.

Adsorption (in catalysis): First stage in heterogeneous catalysis, where reactant molecules form bonds with atoms on the catalyst surface.

Desorption: Last stage in heterogeneous catalysis. The bonds holding the molecules of products to the surface of the catalyst are broken, and the product molecules diffuse away from the surface of the catalyst.

 

CHEMISTRY DEFINITIONS:

Half-life, t1/2: Time taken for the amount (or concentration) of the limiting reactant in a reaction to decrease to half its initial value.

Homogeneous Catalysis: A type of catalysis in which the catalyst and reactants are in the same phase.

Heterogeneous Catalysis: A type of catalysis in which the catalyst is in a different phase to the reactants.

 

CHEMISTRY IMPORTANT NOTES:

The rate of reaction is measured by a decrease in concentration of a particular reactant or an increase in concentration of a particular product over a period of time.

The rate is directly proportional to the concentration of cyclopropane.

The order of a reaction shows how the concentration of a reactant affects the rate of reaction. Order of reaction with respect to a particular reactant is the power to which the concentration of that reactant is raised in the rate equation.

Identify the order of a reaction:

·       Plot a graph of reaction rate against concentration of reactant.

>      Zeroth-order reaction = Horizontal straight line.

>      First-order reaction = Inclined straight line going through the origin.

>      Second-order reaction = Upwardly curved line.

·       Plot a graph of the concentration of reactant against time.

>      Zeroth-order reaction = descending straight line.

>      Curve for the second-order reaction is much deeper than for the first-order reaction.

·       Deduce successive half-lives from graphs of concentration against time.

>      Zeroth-order reaction = Successive half-lives which decrease with time.

>      First-order reaction = Half-life, which is constant.

>      Second-order reaction = Successive half-lives which increase with time.

Half-life, t1/2 is the time taken for the concentration of a limiting reactant to fall to half of its initial value.

The progress of the reaction can be followed by measuring the initial rate of formation of iodine.

While studying the Boltzmann Distribution curve, we learned that at higher temperatures, a greater proportion of the molecules have energy greater than the activation energy. The rate of reaction increases at higher temperatures. Therefore rate of reaction is proportional to the fraction of molecules with energy equal to or greater than the activation energy. So the rate constant increases as the temperature increases.

Analysing the data:

1.       Plot a graph to show how the concentration of a particular reactant (or product) changes with time.

2.       Take tangents at various points along the curve which correspond to particular concentrations of the reactant.

3.       Calculate the slope (gradient) at each concentration selected. The rate of reaction is calculated from the slope of the graph.

4.       Plot a graph of the rate of reaction against concentration.

The initial rates method is often used when the rate of reaction is slow.

A reactant that appears in the chemical equation may not affect the reaction rate.

A substance that is not a reactant in the chemical equation can affect the reaction rate.

Reactions that occur in a number of steps are known as reaction mechanisms. The overall rate of reaction depends on the slowest step, also known as the rate-determining step. If the concentration of a reactant appears in the rate equation, then that reactant appears in the rate-determining step. If a substance does not appear in the overall rate equation, it does not take part in the rate-determining step.

Steps that follow the slow step are relatively fast and do not affect the reaction rate.

If there's only a single species in the rate-determining step, we call it unimolecular. If 2 species are involved in the rate-determining step, we call it bimolecular. Mechanisms that involve a trimolecular step are rare.

Homogeneous catalysis occurs when the catalyst is in the same phase as the reaction mixture.

Heterogeneous catalysis occurs when the catalyst is in a different phase from the reaction mixture. It often involves gaseous molecules reacting at the surface of a solid catalyst.

Chemical adsorption, also called chemisorption, occurs when molecules become bonded to atoms on the surface of a solid. Nickel is particularly good at chemisorbing hydrogen gas.

Adsorb means to bond to the surface of a substance. Absorb means to move right into the substance, rather like a sponge absorbs water.

The stages of adsorption of hydrogen onto nickel are:

·       Hydrogen gas diffuses to the surface of the nickel.

·       Hydrogen is then physically adsorbed onto the surface: weak forces link the hydrogen molecules to the nickel.

·       Hydrogen becomes chemically adsorbed onto the surface: this causes stronger bonds to form between the hydrogen and the nickel.

·       This causes weakening of the hydrogen-hydrogen covalent bond.

When a reaction on the catalyst surface is complete, the bonds between the products and the catalyst weaken so much that the products break away from the surface. This is called desorption.

Iron in the Haber Process:

1.       Diffusion: Nitrogen and hydrogen gas diffuse to the surface of the iron.

2.       Adsorption: Reactant molecules are chemically adsorbed onto the surface of the iron. The bonds formed between the reactant molecules and the iron are:

·       Strong enough to weaken the covalent bonds within the nitrogen and hydrogen molecules so the atoms can react with each other.

·       Weak enough to break and allow the products to leave the surface.

3.       Reaction: Adsorbed nitrogen and hydrogen atoms react on the surface of the iron to form ammonia.

4.       Desorption: Bonds between the ammonia and the surface of the iron weaken and are eventually broken.

5.       Diffusion: Ammonia diffuses away from the surface of the iron.

Possible steps in the catalytic process include:

·       Adsorption of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide onto the catalyst surface.

·       Weakening of the covalent bonds within the nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

·       Formation of new bonds between

§  Adjacent nitrogen atoms (to form nitrogen molecules)

§  Carbon monoxide and oxygen atoms to form carbon dioxide.

·       Desorption of nitrogen molecules and carbon dioxide molecules from the surface of the catalyst.

 

SUMMARY:

The general form of the rate equation is: rate = k[A]m[B]n. k is the rate constant, [A] and [B] are the concentrations of those reactants that affect the rate of reaction, m is the order of the reaction with respect to A, and n is the order of the reaction with respect to B.

The order of reaction can be determined from graphs of reaction rate against concentration.

The half-life of a first-order reaction may be used in calculation to find the first-order rate constant using the relationship: t1/2 = 0.693/k

The rate-determining step is the slowest step in a reaction mechanism. The rate-determining step determines the overall rate of reaction.

The order of reaction with respect to a particular reactant shows how many molecules of that reactant are involved in the rate-determining step of a reaction.

The order of a reaction can be predicted from a given reaction mechanism, knowing the rate-limiting step.

Homogeneous catalysis occurs when a catalyst and the reactants are in the same phase.

Heterogeneous catalysis occurs when a catalyst is in a different phase from the reactants.

The mechanism of heterogeneous catalysis involves the processes of adsorption, reaction and desorption.

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