how do I calculate rate of reaction using temperature and time?

Question

For the decomposition reaction of Hydrogen peroxide i collected the temperature at 30 second intervals. How do I calculate the rate of reaction?

Answer 1

STARTING POINT: (not sure how you are running your experiment exactly)

Assuming that you are at saturation concentration (i.e. zeroth order decomposition). The rate of reaction can be approximated by:

 

r = k(T)

Where k(T) is the rate constant which varies with time

 

Using the Arrhenius Law:

ln(k) = a + b/T

where a and b are constants defined by: a = ko (collision frequency), b = Ea/R (thermal activation energy)

 

Since the rate of reaction is the change in concentration with respect to time, collect the concentrations at each interval and define k by:

 

k = (C1 - C0)/30 (where C1 is the current measured concentration and C0 is the previous concentration).

 

Then plot ln(k) vs. 1/T to determine the rate of reaction at various temperatures.