Rate Of Reaction in Sodium Thiosulphate and HCl

... ctant particles per unit volume. This increases the probability of reactant particles colliding with each other. Pressure - If the pressure is increased the particles in the gas are pushed closer. This increases the concentration and thus the rate of reaction. Surface Area - If a solid is powdered then there is a greater surface area available for a reaction, compared to the same mass of unpowdered solid. Only particles on the surface of the solid will be able to undergo collisions with the particles in a solution or gas.

The particles in a gas undergo random collisions in which energy is transferred between the colliding particles. As a result there will be particles with differing energies. Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution curves show the distribution of the energies of the particles in a gas. The main points to note about the curves are: 1. There are no particles with zero energy. 2. The curve does not touch the x-axis at the higher end, because there will always be some particles with very high energies. 3. The area under the curve is equal to the total number of particles in the system. 4. The peak of the curve indicates the most probable energy. The activation energy for a given reaction can be marked on the distribution curve. Only particles with energy equal or greater than the activation energy can react when a collision occurs. Although Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curves are for the particles in a gas, the same distributions can be used for the particles in a liquid or solid. Effects of a temperature change - The graph below shows Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution graphs for a fixed mass of gas at two temperatures - T1 and T2, where T2 is roughly 10°C higher than T1. The total area under the curve remains the same, since there is no change in the number of particles present. A small increase in temperature causes significant changes to the distribution energies. At the higher ...