which of the following changes would increase the rate of a reaction between vinegar and sodium hydroxide

Question

According to the collision theory, which of the following changes would increase the rate of a reaction between vinegar and sodium hydroxide? (3 points)

		Cooling the sodium hydroxide
		Increasing the volume of the container
		Diluting the vinegar
		Heating the vinegar

Answer 1

Collision theory essentially states that when two compounds are more likely to collide, the rate of reaction will increase.

Let's look at how each condition would impact the rate of reaction:

Cooling the sodium hydroxide will decrease the kinetic energy of the sodium hydroxide, so it will move slower in the reaction container. If it is moving slower, that means it will take more time for one molecule of vinegar to reach a sodium hydroxide molecule. Thus, the reaction will proceed more slowly.

Increasing the volume of the container will allow each molecule to spread out more. This means that the distance each molecule has to travel to collide with another will increase. Thus, the reaction will proceed more slowly.

Diluting the vinegar means that there will be less vinegar in the reaction. This means that there is less vinegar in the reaction container that can collide with the sodium hydroxide, so there will be fewer collisions overall. Thus, the reaction will proceed more slowly.

Heating the vinegar will increase the kinetic energy of the vinegar, so it will move farther in the same amount of time. Thus, the vinegar molecules will be able to travel to and collide with sodium hydroxide molecules even faster. Thus, the reaction will proceed faster.

Answer 2

Heating the vinegar increases the average kinetic energy of the acetic acid molecules which results in an increased number of collisions and speeds up the reaction.