How Temperature Affects The Rate Of Reaction Lab Report

The purpose of this experiment was to find how certain factors of a chemical reaction affect the rate of reaction. This experiment focused on how temperature affects the rate of reaction for the reaction of alka-seltzer and water. The rate of a reaction is a value calculated to figure out how fast a chemical reaction occurs. There are three factors that can be changed that will affect the rate of a chemical reaction: surface area, concentration, and temperature. Temperature specifically affects the rate of a chemical reaction, because when the temperature is changed, the kinetic energy of the molecules is changed. Kinetic energy affects how fast the molecules move around, which naturally affects the speed at which collisions between molecules
The graduated cylinder inside the bucket tipped over in trial 1 of the 30°C test, which may have affected the rate of reaction since the amount of water in the graduated cylinder may have been affected. One of the tabs of alka-seltzer got a few drops of water on it before trial 1 of the room temperature test. Some bubbles formed on the alka-seltzer tab before dropping it into the water, which may have affected the rate of reaction since the weight of the alka-seltzer may have been affected. On trial 2 of the 35°C test, the time in between dropping the alka-seltzer in the test tube and putting the stopper in the test tube was delayed due to human error, which may have affected the amount of gas calculated that was released into the graduated cylinder. Also, on trial 1 of the room temperature test, the stopwatch was started a little late which may have affected the recording of the amount of gas released into the graduated cylinder as well. One limitation was that the outlet in which the hot plate was plugged into stopped working halfway through testing, and the hot plate cooled in the middle of the experiment, which may have affected the heat of the water. Also, other students were sharing the same sink during the experiment, so the temperature of the water in the bucket and beaker may have varied slightly between tests. Another limitation was that it was very difficult to measure out exactly 1 gram of alka-seltzer, since the tablets were solid and had to be broken up. There was a slight variation in the amount of alka-seltzer put into each solution, which may have affected the rate of reaction due to a change in amount of solvent. If this experiment were to be conducted again, I would find a way to support the graduated cylinder so it wouldn’t fall over. I would kept the alka-seltzer tabs inside their packaging until I was ready to use them to keep