Laboratory Techniques II, CHY 116
Chemistry Department, University of Southern Maine

A Colorful Clock Reaction:
What Influences the Rate of a Chemical Reaction?

Assignment

1. Use the index of your class textbook to learn all you can about chemical kinetics. Specifically, learn the meaning of these terms:
   • rate expression
   • rate law
   • rate constant
   • order of reaction
   • molecularity of reaction
   • activation energy (Arrhenius)

Goal

This is a guided-inquiry experiment, which means that you (as a class) will be responsible for designing the particulars of this experiment.

By running a chemical reaction under varying conditions, you will explore this study question: What influences the rate of a chemical reaction? You will attempt to discover what factors affect the rate of a clock reaction, compute its rate constant, and use what you learn to judge the plausibility of proposed mechanisms for the reaction.

Ask your instructor whether your report on this experiment includes an abstract. See guidelines for abstracts.

Preparing for Lab

Download and print the Procedure for this experiment. In guided-inquiry labs, "preparing for lab" means studying the background information on the Procedure pages, and then answering the Pre-Laboratory Questions at the end of the Procedure. Your instructor will take up your Pre-Laboratory Questions for evaluation, treating them as a pre-lab quiz.

Report

Download and print the Report Form for this experiment. Bring it with you to lab.