Investigating How the Concentration of Hydrochloric Acid Affects the Rate of Reaction with Calcium Carbonate

Investigating How the Concentration of Hydrochloric Acid Affects the Rate of Reaction with Calcium Carbonate

Aim

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Calcium Carbonate reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid to produce

carbon dioxide. The aim of this investigation is to find out how the

concentration of hydrochloric acid affects the rate of reaction with

calcium carbonate.

In my experiment, I will use an overall volume of 50 cm³ of 2moles of

dilute hydrochloric acid and keep that constant throughout the entire

experiment. Another independent variable in my experiment is the

one-gram of calcium carbonate; I will also keep the surface area of

the calcium carbonate the same.

In each experiment I will vary the concentration of acid I use,

ranging from 50 cm³ of acid and no water, to 12.5 cm³ of acid and 37.5

cm³ of water. The equation for the reaction between Calcium carbonate,

hydrochloric acid and water is:

CaCO³ + 2HCl → CaCl² + H²O + CO²

Background information

======================

My experiment is based on the collision theory. This means that the

particles in the solution continuously move around, this means that

sometimes the particles collide. If the collision has enough energy a

reaction takes place, but if the collision does not have enough

energy, no reaction occurs and the particles bounce away from each

other. In a successful collision, you need energy to break the bonds

and then it would release energy as new bonds are formed.

The more successful collisions that happen, the more products from the

experiment are produced. This also means that the more successful

collisions that happen the higher the rate of reaction. However, the

less successful collisions, the lower the rate of reaction and

therefore fewer products are produced.

So, ideally, in my experiment, the higher the concentration of acid

the higher the rate of reaction and the more carbon dioxide is

produced.

Preliminary Work

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The key factors that will affect my experiment are the concentration

of acid, the size and therefore the surface area of the calcium