Chemistry Exploration Topic: determining the activation energy of a chemical reaction Research Question: What effect does temperature of the chemical reaction have on the activation energy ? ICT: Microsoft Word Autograph Microsoft Excel Introduction This experiment is designed to help in estimating the activation energy of the rate-limiting step in the acid catalyzed reaction of acetone with iodine. This is achieved by measuring the reaction rates at different reaction temperatures over the experiment. Once the raw data is obtained, I will analyze the data with the help of an Arrhenius plot. This is a tool used in determining the activation energy of chemical reactions. Here, the natural logarithm of the rate of reaction …show more content…
The exploration was meant to also analyze the effect that temperature has on the rate of a chemical reaction. From the raw data obtained, it is clear that the time taken to complete the reaction decreases with increase in temperature. The effect of temperature on the rate of reaction is however dependent on the activation energy. When the activation energy is positive, as the temperature will increase , the rate of reaction will also increasing meaning that they are directly proportional .However, if the activation energy is negative, the rate of the chemical reaction will decrease as the temperature is increased. To carefully describe the relationship between the rate of reaction and the temperature, a graph of these two variables is plotted. It can clearly be seen that the rate of reaction gradually increases as the temperature is increase. This is best explained by the principles of chemical kinetics. The increase in temperature results in an increase in the kinetic energy of the molecules. Consequently, these molecules are able to move faster and the probability of collusion with other molecules is increased. Hence, the time taken for the reaction to be completed is reduced and the rate of reaction increases. Conclusion The experiment was conducted with the aim of being able to determine the activation energy of the reaction. Additionally, the effect of temperature on the rate of reaction was also to be