REACTION RATES
The Collision Theory
For a reaction to take place, two or more reactants must collide with one another.
Not all collisions lead to a reaction, those collisions that give rise to products are
called effective collisions.
The collision theory is applied to explain how factors affect the rates of chemical
reactions.
For a chemical reaction to occur, reactant particles must undergo effective collisions.
An effective collision satisfies two conditions:
Sufficient Energy
Particles must collide with kinetic energy equal to or greater than the activation
energy.
Correct Orientation
Particles must be aligned properly at the moment of impact to allow existing bonds to
be overcome and new ones to form.
When one or both conditions are increased the rate of reaction increases.
The rate of reaction is directly proportional to the number of effective collisions per
unit time.
The rate of reaction is directly proportional to the number of particles with
correct orientation.
The rate of reaction is directly proportional to the number of particles with
sufficient (enough) kinetic energy.
Correct orientation
Effective and ineffective collisions
A reaction is unlikely to happen if molecules approach each other from a direction
that makes it difficult for new bonds to form.
Only a tiny proportion of the collisions between particles are effective collisions which
result in reactions.
As the electrons repel each other, most molecules move away from each other and
avoid collision.
Amount of energy and orientation of colliding particles lead to some collisions being
effective and others not effective.
Reaction Rates/ Rates of Reaction
Reaction rates measures the speed of the chemical reaction, determining how fast or
slow it is.
Reaction rate the change in concentration of reactants or products per unit time.
Rate – refers to the concept of (per unit time)
How fast products are formed per unit time.
How fast reactants are used up per unit time.
During the course of the reaction
Concentration of reactants decreases.
Concentration of products increases.
The gradient of either curve will give the average rate of reaction for the time interval
Δt.
Phases in which reactions can occur
There are two types of reactions:
homogeneous where reactants and products are in the same phase.
heterogeneous where reactants and products are in different phases.
Showing the effect of changes in rate of reaction on the concentration of
reactant vs time graph
• the dashed line shows the
reaction that has a higher rate:
o The higher the rate of reaction,
the shorter the time it takes for
the reaction to reach
completion.
o The dashed lines become
horizontal earlier (time = t1)
than the solid line (time = t2)
• the dashed line shows the
reaction that has a lower rate:
o The lower the rate of reaction,
the longer the time it takes for
the reaction to reach
completion.
o The dashed lines become
horizontal later (time = t3) than
the solid line (time = t2)
• the dashed line shows the
reaction that has a higher
rate:
o The higher the rate of
reaction, the shorter the time
it takes for the reaction to
reach completion.
o The dashed lines become
horizontal earlier (time = t1)
than the solid line (time = t2)
• the dashed line shows the
reaction that has a lower
rate:
o The lower the rate of
reaction, the longer the time
it takes for the reaction to
reach completion.
o The dashed lines becomes
horizontal later (time = t3)
than the solid line (time = t2)
Measurement of reaction rate
For a reaction that liberates gas (releases gas) the rate of the reaction can be
determined by measuring the rate of gas liberation (released).
In a reaction where a precipitate forms, the rate of the reaction can be determined by
the rate at which the precipitate forms, e.g.:
METHOD: Place the beaker in which the reaction takes place (and the precipitate
forms) on a piece of paper with a mark (e.g. a cross). Take the time it takes for the
cross to “disappear”.
Reaction rate calculations/ measuring reaction rate
• For the products:
Average rate = change in amount of product
time taken
• For the reactants:
Average rate = change in amount of reactants
time taken
By definition, the rate of reaction is always positive.
To measure reaction rate for reactants, multiply the results of measurements
by a negative sign.
Rate can be calculated in several ways:
Factors affecting reaction rate
Factors are applied for reactants only
Some factors are limited to certain substance phases
Factors affecting reaction rate are:
Catalyst (for all phases)
Temperature (for all phases)
Concentration (for aqueous and gases)
Pressure (for gases only)
Surface areas/ State of division (for solids only)
If the question involves an Investigation, remember the following points:
The dependent variable will always be the reaction rate.
The independent variable will be ONE of the factors listed above.
To identify the Independent Variable, Check which factor is not the same for 2
different experiments.
The controlled variable will then be the rest of the factors that are applicable
to the reaction.
Explanation of factors in terms of collision theory
Catalyst (For all phases)
Two kinds of catalysis:
Homogenous – the catalyst is in the same phase as the reactants.
Heterogeneous – the catalyst is in different phase as the reactants.
Catalysts cannot cause a reaction to occur, they can only affect the rate of the
reaction.
Catalyst- A substance that affects the rate of reaction without being consumed or
undergoing any permanent change in chemical reaction.
Adding Catalyst
Adding a catalyst increases the reaction rate
By providing an alternative pathway of lower activation energy.
More particles having kinetic energy greater or equal to activation energy.
more effective collisions per time unit.
Temperature (for all phases)
is the meassure of the average kinetic energy of the particles. (not the
number of particles)
Temperature affects the speed at which the particles move
Temperature is directly proportional to the average kinetic energy of molecules.
Temperature can be increased or decreased
An increase in Temperature
An increase in temperature increases the reaction rate.
Increasing temperature increases the average kinetic energy of particles.
More particles having kinetic energy greater or equal to activation energy.
More effective collisions per unit time.
Concentration (for aqueous and gases)
Concentration is the number of moles of solute per unit volume of solvent.
Concentration can be increased in two ways.
In gases (by decreasing the volume of a container) more pressure in gases
𝑐=𝑛/𝑣 c ∝ n and c ∝ 1/v
In solutions (by adding more of the solvent)
Increasing concentration
An increase in Concentration increases the reaction rate.
increasing concentration increases the number of particles per unit volume of
a container.
More particles having kinetic energy greater or equal to activation energy.
More effective collisions per unit time.
Pressure (for gases only)
gas pressure is affected by the number of gas particles per unit volume of container.
Pressure of gas is increased by decreasing the volume of the container.
Pressure is inversely proportional to volume.
P ∝1/𝑣
Decrease in volume of a container/ increase pressure.
An increase in pressure increases the reaction rate.
An increase in pressure of a gas increases the number of gas particles per
unit volume.
More particles having kinetic energy greater or equal to activation energy.
More effective collisions per unit time.
Surface area/ State of division (for solids only)
by surface area we mean reaction surface area.
The finer a substance is divided (smaller pieces), the greater the reaction surface
(area).
Powder have greater surface area than granules, lumps and ribbons.
Increasing surface area
An increase in surface area increases the reaction rate.
Increasing surface area increases the number of particles that are exposed at the
surface for collisions to occur.
More particles having kinetic energy greater or equal to activation energy.
More effective collisions per unit time.
Maxwell boltmann distribution curves
• The Maxwell-Boltzmann
distribution curve shows the
distribution of particles along an
energy scale.
• There is only a small fraction of
molecules that have enough
energy for the reaction
• The area below the curve is equal
to the number of particles in the
curve.
The curve is drawn through the origin, because no particles have EK = 0 J.
The peak of the curve = the average EK of the particles. That is the most probable
EK of the particles.
The shaded area represents the fraction of particles which has kinetic energy equal
or greater than the activation energy (Ek ≥ EA).
This fraction of particles can therefore perform effective collisions if the orientation is
correct, since they have enough kinetic energy.
The curve is affected by changes in temperature and concentration. The addition of
a catalyst will affect the activation energy mark (EA).