← General Science / 3 Matter and Chemical Reactions
3.5 Rates of Reactions
General Science · Grade 10 · 12 lessons in the design
What this covers
- Rate of a chemical reaction and how it is measured
- Factors affecting rate: temperature, concentration, pressure, surface area, catalyst, light
- Factors affecting rates in biological processes
- Optimum conditions in industrial processes
- Efficiency and safety of the Haber process
What you will be able to do
- describe the rate of chemical reactions
- perform experiments involving the rate of chemical reactions
- explain factors that influence the rate of reactions in both biological and chemical processes
- account for the efficiency of chemical reactions in industrial processes
- appreciate the significance of manipulating factors affecting chemical reactions in nature
Key questions
“How do various factors affect the rate of reactions?”
“Why does food keep longer in a refrigerator?”
Lessons
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Rate of reaction and why the factors work
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizHow fast a reaction goes, how to measure it, and one idea that explains every factor.
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Investigating rates, and rates in biology and industry
40 min · 2 practice tasks · quizHow to test a factor fairly, why enzymes behave differently from other catalysts, and the compromise at the heart of the Haber process.
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How to measure the rate of a reaction
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizPick a change you can see, time it, and remember that the gradient of the graph is the rate.
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Temperature and rate
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizHeat makes collisions more frequent and, more importantly, more successful. That is why a fridge works.
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Concentration and pressure
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizMore particles in the same space means more collisions per second. Pressure does this for gases only.
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Surface area and rate
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizA solid only reacts at its skin. Crush it, and you grow that skin without adding mass.
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Catalysts: a cheaper path, not more product
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizA catalyst is not used up. It lowers the energy a collision needs, so more collisions succeed.
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Light as a factor affecting rate
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizSome reactions need a photon to get started. No light, almost no reaction, however warm the flask.
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Rates in living cells: enzymes
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizEnzymes are biological catalysts with an optimum temperature and pH. Past the peak they denature for good.
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Investigating the effect of temperature
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizA fair test of temperature: one variable changed, a water bath, and a graph of rate against temperature.
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The Haber process: a compromise, not an ideal
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz450 C, 200 atmospheres, iron, and a recycling loop: why the factory does not chase the highest possible yield.
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Efficiency and safety in industrial rates
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizChoose conditions that make enough product per day without boiling the workers, bursting the vessel, or wasting the feed.