The Rate Of Reaction By Measuring The Increasing Absorbance Of 430 Nm Light

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In this experiment, spectrophotometry will be used to measure the rate of reaction by measuring the increasing absorbance of 430 nm light by I2, as concentration of iodine increases.1 The order of a chemical is the number by which the rate of the reaction exponentially increases with increasing concentration of the chemical, and it’s always a whole number. An order of 0 is assigned when there is no exponential increase with the increase in concentration of that chemical.2
A spectrophotometer will be used in this experiment to measure the absorbance at a λmax of 430 nm. This wavelength will be used because it’s the wavelength absorbed by iodine, a yellow liquid that absorbs violet light and reflects yellow light. A 1 cm cuvette will be used to contain the reaction solutions, which will be put into the spectrophotometer to record absorbance. 3 mL plastic pipettes will be used to measure and add solutions to beakers and to the cuvette. While not very accurate, these pipettes will allow for quick and convenient transfer of solutions.
In this experiment, the empirical equation rate = k[A]x[B]y[C]z will be determined by measuring the rates of the reaction FeCl3(aq) + KI(aq) → FeCL2(aq) + I2(aq) + KCl(aq), repeated 5 times. The equation M1V1 = M2V2 will be used to determine the concentrations of KI and FeCl3 added to the various reactions, where M1 is initial concentration, which is 0.02 M, V1 is initial volume of the chemicals, M2 is final concentration, and V2 is final volume, which is 4 mL. The absorbance and time of the reactions will be plotted on graphs, and their slopes will be used as the rate of the reactions. Then, the equation Rate A/RateB = k[KItrialA]x[FeCl3trialA]y/k[KItrialB]x[FeCl3trialB]y will be used to find the value ...

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...his experiment, five reactions between KI and FeCl3 were performed using various volumes of KI and FeCl3, to measure their initial reaction rates using a spectrophotometer to measure the absorbance of I2, which was formed according to the reaction FeCl3(aq) + KI(aq) → FeCL2(aq) + I2(aq) + KCl(aq). The collected data was then used to determine the average reaction constant, and the empirical rate law of the equation.
The progress of the reaction was monitored by using a spectrophotometer to measure the absorbance of light of 430 nm wavelength, which increased as the amount of I2 increased. 430 nm was chosen as the observed wavelength because it’s the wavelength best absorbed by I2. I2 is a chemical that reflects yellow light, and hence appears yellow, and absorbs violet light, around the 430 nm wavelengths. The following graphs were generated from the recorded data:

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