Factors That Affect Reaction Rates
1. Last updated
Jul 2, 2014
2. Share
Table of contents
Factors that influence the reaction rates of chemical reactions include the concentration of
reactants, temperature, the physical state of reactants and their dispersion, the solvent, and the
presence of a catalyst.
Introduction
Although a balanced chemical equation for a reaction describes the quantitative relationships
between the amounts of reactants present and the amounts of products that can be formed, it
gives us no information about whether or how fast a given reaction will occur. This information
is obtained by studying the chemical kinetics of a reaction, which depend on various factors:
reactant concentrations, temperature, physical states and surface areas of reactants, and solvent
and catalyst properties if either are present. By studying the kinetics of a reaction, chemists
gain insights into how to control reaction conditions to achieve a desired outcome.
Concentration Effects
Two substances cannot possibly react with each other unless their constituent particles
(molecules, atoms, or ions) come into contact. If there is no contact, the reaction rate will be
zero. Conversely, the more reactant particles that collide per unit time, the more often a reaction
between them can occur. Consequently, the reaction rate usually increases as the concentration
of the reactants increases.
Temperature Effects
Increasing the temperature of a system increases the average kinetic energy of its constituent
particles. As the average kinetic energy increases, the particles move faster and collide more
frequently per unit time and possess greater energy when they collide. Both of these factors
increase the reaction rate. Hence the reaction rate of virtually all reactions increases with
increasing temperature. Conversely, the reaction rate of virtually all reactions decreases with
decreasing temperature. For example, refrigeration retards the rate of growth of bacteria in
foods by decreasing the reaction rates of biochemical reactions that enable bacteria to
reproduce.
In systems where more than one reaction is possible, the same reactants can produce different
products under different reaction conditions. For example, in the presence of dilute sulfuric
acid and at temperatures around 100°C, ethanol is converted to diethyl ether:
2CH3CH2OH−→−−−H2SO4CH3CH2OCH2CH3+H2O(14.1)(14.1)2CH3CH2OH→H2SO4C
H3CH2OCH2CH3+H2O
At 180°C, however, a completely different reaction occurs, which produces ethylene as the
major product:
CH3CH2OH−→−−−H2SO4C2H4+H2O(14.2)(14.2)CH3CH2OH→H2SO4C2H4+H2O
Phase and Surface Area Effects
When two reactants are in the same fluid phase, their particles collide more frequently than
when one or both reactants are solids (or when they are in different fluids that do not mix). If
the reactants are uniformly dispersed in a single homogeneous solution, then the number of
collisions per unit time depends on concentration and temperature, as we have just seen. If the
reaction is heterogeneous, however, the reactants are in two different phases, and collisions
between the reactants can occur only at interfaces between phases. The number of collisions
between reactants per unit time is substantially reduced relative to the homogeneous case, and,
hence, so is the reaction rate. The reaction rate of a heterogeneous reaction depends on the
surface area of the more condensed phase.
Automobile engines use surface area effects to increase reaction rates. Gasoline is injected into
each cylinder, where it combusts on ignition by a spark from the spark plug. The gasoline is
injected in the form of microscopic droplets because in that form it has a much larger surface
area and can burn much more rapidly than if it were fed into the cylinder as a stream. Similarly,
a pile of finely divided flour burns slowly (or not at all), but spraying finely divided flour into
a flame produces a vigorous reaction.
Solvent Effects
The nature of the solvent can also affect the reaction rates of solute particles. For example, a
sodium acetate solution reacts with methyl iodide in an exchange reaction to give methyl
acetate and sodium iodide.
CH3CO2Na(soln)+CH3I(l)→CH3CO2CH3(soln)+NaI(soln)(14.3)(14.3)CH3CO2Na(soln)+CH3I(
l)→CH3CO2CH3(soln)+NaI(soln)
This reaction occurs 10 million times more rapidly in the organic solvent dimethylformamide
[DMF; (CH3)2NCHO] than it does in methanol (CH3OH). Although both are organic solvents
with similar dielectric constants (36.7 for DMF versus 32.6 for methanol), methanol is able to
hydrogen bond with acetate ions, whereas DMF cannot. Hydrogen bonding reduces the
reactivity of the oxygen atoms in the acetate ion.
Solvent viscosity is also important in determining reaction rates. In highly viscous solvents,
dissolved particles diffuse much more slowly than in less viscous solvents and can collide less
frequently per unit time. Thus the reaction rates of most reactions decrease rapidly with
increasing solvent viscosity.
Catalyst Effects
A catalyst is a substance that participates in a chemical reaction and increases the reaction rate
without undergoing a net chemical change itself. Consider, for example, the decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide in the presence and absence of different catalysts. Because most catalysts
are highly selective, they often determine the product of a reaction by accelerating only one of
several possible reactions that could occur.
Most of the bulk chemicals produced in industry are formed with catalyzed reactions. Recent
estimates indicate that about 30% of the gross national product of the United States and other
industrialized nations relies either directly or indirectly on the use of catalysts.
Conceptual Problems
1. What information can you obtain by studying the chemical kinetics of a
reaction? Does a balanced chemical equation provide the same
information? Why or why not?
2. If you were tasked with determining whether to proceed with a particular
reaction in an industrial facility, why would studying the chemical kinetics
of the reaction be important to you?
3. What is the relationship between each of the following factors and the
reaction rate: reactant concentration, temperature of the reaction, physical
properties of the reactants, physical and chemical properties of the
solvent, and the presence of a catalyst?
4. A slurry is a mixture of a finely divided solid with a liquid in which it is only
sparingly soluble. As you prepare a reaction, you notice that one of your
reactants forms a slurry with the solvent, rather than a solution. What
effect will this have on the reaction rate? What steps can you take to try to
solve the problem?
5. Why does the reaction rate of virtually all reactions increase with an
increase in temperature? If you were to make a glass of sweetened iced
tea the old-fashioned way, by adding sugar and ice cubes to a glass of hot
tea, which would you add first?
6. In a typical laboratory setting, a reaction is carried out in a ventilated hood
with air circulation provided by outside air. A student noticed that a
reaction that gave a high yield of a product in the winter gave a low yield
of that same product in the summer, even though his technique did not
change and the reagents and concentrations used were identical. What is
a plausible explanation for the different yields?
7. A very active area of chemical research involves the development of
solubilized catalysts that are not made inactive during the reaction
process. Such catalysts are expected to increase reaction rates
significantly relative to the same reaction run in the presence of a
heterogeneous catalyst. What is the reason for anticipating that the
relative rate will increase?
8. Water has a dielectric constant more than two times greater than that of
methanol (80.1 for H2O and 33.0 for CH3OH). Which would be your solvent
of choice for a substitution reaction between an ionic compound and a
polar reagent, both of which are soluble in either methanol or water? Why?
Answers
1. Kinetics gives information on the reaction rate and reaction mechanism;
the balanced chemical equation gives only the stoichiometry of the
reaction.
3. Reaction rates generally increase with increasing reactant concentration,
increasing temperature, and the addition of a catalyst. Physical properties
such as high solubility also increase reaction rates. Solvent polarity can
either increase or decrease the reaction rate of a reaction, but increasing
solvent viscosity generally decreases reaction rates.
5. Increasing the temperature increases the average kinetic energy of
molecules and ions, causing them to collide more frequently and with
greater energy, which increases the reaction rate. First dissolve sugar in
the hot tea, and then add the ice.
