CHM171L Physical Chemistry 1 Laboratory

2nd Quarter, S.Y. 2016-2017

Chemical Kinetics: The Hydrolysis of Methyl Acetate

Calderon, Edna1, Castro, Ethan Zachary G., Pasia, Abraham Paul L., Pulido, Froileth S., Rodriguez, Myron Dominic G. 2
1

Professor Edna J. Calderon, School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biological Engineering and Materials Science Engineering, Mapa

Institute of Technology; 2Castro, Ethan Zachary G., Pasia, Abraham Paul L., Pulido, Froileth S., Rodriguez, Myron, CHM171L-A21, School of
Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biological Engineering and Materials Science Engineering, Mapa Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT
The experiment focuses on the chemical kinetics of the hydrolysis of the reaction that yields methyl acetate.
The rate of chemical reaction depends on many variables such as the presence of a catalyst, the
concentration of the reactants, and the temperature of the system. The experiment was done with three
separate procedures: the mixing of HCl and water, the addition of the made acidic solution to methyl
acetate and then recording the time, and lastly titrating the made solution after the addition to chilled water
with sodium hydroxide. The results show that the reaction is that of the second order by calculating the
best-fit line. The calculated activation energy and enthalpy change for the reaction was 4409.71 J/mole.
The calculated entropy of the reaction was -14.7976 J/mole. The chemical kinetics of the hydrolysis of
methyl acetate was successfully evaluated. The enthalpy and entropy change, as well as the activation
energy was also successfully quantified.
Keywords: Chemical Kinetics, Hydrolysis, Enthalpy, Activation Energy, Entropy
INTRODUCTION
Chemical kinetics is the branch of
chemistry dealing with the study of reaction rates:
that is, how fast or how slow chemical reactions
occur. The rate of a chemical reaction might
depend on several controllable variables, such as
the temperature under which the reaction is
occurring, the concentration of the reactants, the
presence of a catalyst, and others. One may be
able to optimize the chemical reaction rate by
appropriate choice of conditions. In addition, the
study of reaction rates will lead to an
understanding of the mechanisms on how the
reactions occur as well, which involves analyzing
the reaction by identifying a sequence of
elementary steps leading to the desired overall
reaction (Atkins & de Paula, 2006).
An understanding of chemical kinetics
begins with the knowledge of the rate laws of
reactions, otherwise known as rate equations.
Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

These equations link chemical reaction rates with

concentrations or pressures of reactants and
other constant parameters, such as the rate
constant and the partial reaction orders. For the
following reaction,
aA+ bB products
the rate equation would be normally written as
x

r=k [ A ] [ B ]

where r is the rate of reaction, k is the rate

constant, x is the order of the reaction with
respect to reactant A and y is the order of
reaction with respect to reactant B. In addition,
one may also express the rate of a chemical
reaction by obtaining the differential of one
reactant with respect to time. In the shown
reaction,

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r=

d [ A ] d [ B ]
=
adt
adt

[ A]

[ A ]o

d[ A]
= akdt
[A] 0

where the negative sign denotes that the

reactants are being consumed in the reaction.
With these equations, one may form a differential
equation, and solving the equations will yield to a
linear relationship between the concentration of
the reactants and time. The various forms of the
integrated rate equations depend on the order of
the reaction with respect to the reactant under
consideration.

yielding an integrated rate law of the form

The first of the common order of

reactions is the zero order reaction, where the
rate does not depend on the concentration of any
of the reactants. For the following reaction,

Moreover, second order reactions

reactions whose rate depends on
concentration of a second order reactant or
first order reactants. For the first case,
reaction usually goes as follows.

aA products

ln [ A ] =ln [ A ]0akt
implying that plotting the natural logarithm of the
concentration of A against time will yield a linear
plot whose slope is equal to ak. An example of a
first order reaction is the decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas.
are
the
two
the

aA products

the differential equation would be

[ A]

d [ A ]= akdt
[ A ]o

The rate equation would then be

[ A]

[ A ]o

d[ A]
2

[A]

= akdt
0

which will yield the following equation

[ A ] =[ A ] oakt
suggesting that plotting the concentration of
reactant A against time will give a linear plot with
a slope of value equal to ak. A common
example is the reverse Haber process
2 N H 3 3 H 2 + N 2
On the other hand, first order reactions
are reactions whose rates depend on the
concentration of only one reactant (unimolecular
reactions). Other reactants may be present, but
each will be zero order. Considering the same
reaction as before, but now first order with
respect to A, the differential equation will be

Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

yielding an integrated rate law of the form

1
1
=
+akt
[ A ] [ A ]0
suggesting the plotting the reciprocal of the
concentration of reactant A against time would
yield a linear graph with a slope equal to ak.
Further, for the second case, the reaction
commonly proceeds as follows.
A + B products

The rate equation would then be

d [ A ]
=k [ A ][ B ]
dt

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and integration by partial fractions will give an

integrated rate law of

[ B ]0 [ A ]
1
ln
=kt
[ A ]0 [ B ]0 [ A ]0 [ B ]

In a special case where [A] = [B], the conditions

of the first case may be followed (Chang &
Goldsby, 2011).
In order to determine the order of
reaction with respect to a certain reactant
experimentally, one must constantly monitor the
concentrations of the reactant during the onset of
the reaction and record the exact time when the
concentration of the reactant is equal to that
same value. After obtaining the data, one may fit
the data into any of the linear graphs
aforementioned, and whichever produced the
most linear graph is the order of the reaction with
respect to that certain reactant. However, for a
second order reaction with two reactants, this
method may be problematic: the concentrations
of the two reactants must be followed
simultaneously, which is more difficult; or
measure one of them and calculate the other as
a difference, which is less precise. A common
solution to this problem is the pseudo-first order
approximation. If the concentration of one relative
reactant remains constant because it is supplied
in great excess, its concentration can be
absorbed at the expressed constant rate,
obtaining the pseudo-first order reaction
constant, because in fact, it depends on the
same concentration of only one of the two
reactants. If, for example, [B] remains constant,
the rate equation may be written as
r=k [ A ][ B ] =k ' [ A ]
where
'

k =k [ B ] 0
Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

and the expression is identical to the first order

expression shown above. A common example of
reaction where pseudo-first order approximations
are effective is the hydrolysis of esters, where the
amount of water is present at large excess
(Atkins & de Paula, 2006).
Aside from knowledge of rate equations,
another noteworthy concept under chemical
kinetics is the concept of activation energies. The
activation energy of a reaction is the minimum
energy that must be available for a chemical
reaction to occur. The lower the activation energy
of a reaction, the faster that reaction will occur.
An equation known as the Arrhenius equation
gives the quantitative basis of the activation
energy. The activation energy may be solved
using the relation
Ea

k =A e RT
where k is the rate constant of the reaction, A is
the frequency factor, or the Arrhenius constant,
Ea is the activation energy, R is the universal gas
constant and T is the absolute temperature
(Levine, 2009).
EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
This experiment has three different part. On the
first part, the researchers need to prepare the
solution. Measure 50ml distilled water and 50ml
1.0M hydrochloric acid (HCl) then mixed them
together. Make sure to put the water first before
acid or else it will produce a very concentrated
acid if the acid is poured first before water. After
mixing the water and acid, add 10ml of methyl
acetate and start the timer. Wait for the timer to
reach 10mins then get 5ml aliquot of the solution
and add to the pre-chilled 50ml distilled water.
Titrate it with NaOH and record the volume. This
is done for two hours. The time interval for the
first hour is 10mins before getting 5ml aliquot to
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the solution and then 20mins interval for the next n Time,
min
hour.

mL

For the second part of the experiment, the same

process is done. The only difference is that the
amount of HCl is increased to 100ml instead of
50ml. while on the last part, the same amount of
HCL, water and methyl acetate is used but the
temperature of the stock solution placed in the
water bath is the difference between the two
parts. Instead of 25OC, the temperature must be
35OC. after performing this and all the data are
gathered, plot the data with Concentration versus
time for zero, first, and second order and look for
the graph with the highest linearity.

4.0

0.8

4.8

0.96

5.1

1.02

5.4

1.08

5.5

1.1

5.8

1.16

6.1

1.22

6.3

1.26

6.9

1.38

7.1

1.42

10
20
30
40
50
60
80
100

RESULTS
Table 6.1: Hydrolysis Rate
Determination at Room Temperature
and Lower Concentration of HCl.

120

CH3 Left,
M
0.762999
46
0.7579994
6
0.7561244
6
0.7542494
6
0.7536244
6
0.7517494
6
0.7498744
6
0.7486244
6
0.7448744
6
0.7436244
6

Table 6.3: Hydrolysis Rate

Concentra
Determination at Higher Temperature
tion of
and Lower Concentration of HCl.
CH3COOCH
3 Left, M Estimat Volum Concentra Concentra
ed
e of
tion of
tion of
3.0
0.60
1.110686 Reactio NaOH, CH3COOH,
CH3COO
3.3
0.66
1.107959 n Time,
mL
M
CH3 Left,
3.6
0.72
1.105232 min
M
3.9
0.78
1.102504
0
3.4
0.68
1.115272
4.2
0.84
1.099777
10
5.3
1.06
1.097999
4.5
0.9
1.09705
20
6.2
1.24
1.089817
4.8
0.96
1.094323
30
6.1
1.22
1.090726
5.3
1.06
1.089777
40
6.5
1.3
1.08709
5.6
1.12
1.08705
50
5.1
1.02
1.099817
6.1
1.22
1.082504
60
5.8
1.16
1.093454
80
5.9
1.18
1.092545
100
6.1
1.22
1.090726
Table 6.2: Hydrolysis Rate
120
6.5
1.3
1.08709
Determination at Room Temperature

Estimat
ed
Reactio
n Time,
min
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
80
100
120

Volum
e of
NaOH,
mL

Concentra
tion of
CH3COOH,
M

and Higher Concentration of HCl.

Estimat
ed
Reactio

Volum
e of
NaOH,

Concentra
tion of
CH3COOH,

Concentra
tion of
CH3COO

Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

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Figure 6.3: First Order Plot of

at Higher Temperature
Figure 6.1: First Order Plot of HydrolysisHydrolysis
at
and Lower Concentration of HCl.
Room Temperature and Lower
Concentration of HCl.
Table 6.4: Summary of Results.
Concentration of HCl, M

Acid-dependent rate
constant at low [HCl]
Acid-dependent rate
constant at High [HCl]
Order of Reaction with
respect to [HCl]
Activation Energy

0.000416325 /min

Enthalpy of Reaction
Entropy of Reaction

0.00048301 /min
FIRST ORDER
4409.71037
J/mole
4409.71037
J/mole
-14.79768581
J/mole-K

Figure 6.2: First Order Plot of HydrolysisDISCUSSION

at
Room Temperature and Higher
Concentration of HCl.
a. Castro, Ethan Zachary G.

As aforementioned, the experiment

commenced by scanning for the wavelength that
will give optimum absorbance readings because
this will be essential for more accurate results in
the determination of the concentration of the
unknown sample solution of Co(NO 3)2. A
standard solution of 0.05 M of Co(NO 3)2 had its
Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

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absorbance obtained with varying wavelength,

and a graph was plotted to relate the two
quantities aforementioned. An initial observation
would be that the solution was pinkish red, and
an initial hypothesis would be that it would
absorb the wavelength of its complementary
color, which is green. Figure 4.1 shows the graph
obtained relating the absorbance and the
wavelength of the standard solution. As seen, the
optimum absorbance is obtained at a wavelength
of approximately 510 nanometers, which
corresponds to the bluish-green color of light in
the electromagnetic spectrum, thereby proving
the aforementioned hypothesis to be correct. The
following figure shows the color wheel, which
shows the complementary colors being opposite
to one another.

Visible light to obtain their absorbance readings

at 510 nanometers. Table 4.3 shows the data
obtained for the absorbance readings of the
aforementioned standard solutions.
As one will notice from the trend of the data,
there is a directly proportional relationship with
the concentration and the absorbance of the
solution. Assuming that the solution fully obeys
Beers Law, one may construct a linear
relationship relating the two quantities, and from
that relationship, the concentration of the
unknown solution may be obtained after its
absorbance is read. This method is called the
standard calibration method, wherein one
prepares a calibration curve, which is a plot of
the signal (which, in this case, is absorbance)
against the concentrations of prepared standard
solutions. From Beers Law,
A=bc
and b, which represents the path length of the
cell used, is kept constant at 1 centimeter. Thus,
the equation is left with
A=c

Figure 4.5: The Color Wheel

This phenomenon implies that the solution will

absorb the most Ultraviolet-Visible radiation when
the wavelength of the light that is allowed to
strike the solution is at 510 nanometers
(wavelength of green to blue green light).
Therefore, this wavelength will be the optimum
wavelength, and this was the same wavelength
used in the analysis of the concentration of the
unknown solution. As aforementioned, standard
solutions of various concentrations were
prepared and were subjected to UltravioletExperiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

showing a linear relationship between the

absorbance and the concentration, with ,
otherwise known as the molar absorptivity of the
solution, is the constant of proportionality.
However, linear plots usually are in the form of
y=mx +b
so a correction factor is added to the relationship,
but still maintaining linearity. The equation then
becomes
A=c +k

and after obtaining the values of the slope and

the y-intercept, the absorbance of the unknown
will be read and then substituted to the linear
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relationship, readily yielding a value for the

concentration. Linear regression of the shown
data will give a slope of 6.9775 and a y-intercept
of -0.0126, therefore giving a linear relationship
of
A=6.9775 c0.0126
with a correlation constant of 0.9581, indicating
that somehow the relationship obtained was
linear. Figure 4.4 shows the Beers Law plot
generated.
Obtaining the absorbance of the
unknown solution yielded a value of 0.091, and
substituting it to the aforementioned linear
relationship will give a concentration of 0.0148 M.
Theoretically, the true value for the concentration
of the solution, according to the instructor, was
0.015 M, with the experimental value obtained
being only 1.33% different from the true value,
indicating satisfactory method of analysis and
result.
b. Catanghal, Chris Vergel Y.
This experiment is about determining the rate
of hydrolysis of methyl acetate using chemical
kinetics. There are four parts for this experiment.
The first part is about determining the rate of
hydrolysis using lower concentration of acid in
which HCl is used as the acid. The collected data
are place in Table 6.1 on the results part of the
paper. As the data is observed, it can be seen
that there is a pattern. The pattern is that as time
continues, the concentration of acetic acid
increases and the concentration of methyl
acetate decreases. Plotting the data in time
against concentration in zero order, first order
and second order. The graph with the highest
linearity is the graph of first order. Therefore, the
rate of hydrolysis of methyl acetate is a first order
reaction. Plotting the data in first order reaction
produced a graph which can be seen in Figure
6.1.
Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

On the second part of the experiment where

the concentration of the acid, which is HCl, is
increased by increasing its volume to 100ml
instead of 50ml making the volume of methyl
acetate and water constant to 10ml and 50ml,
respectively. The data that was gathered is listed
in Table 6.2. It can be observed that when time
progresses, the concentration of acetic acid
increases and the concentration of methyl
acetate decreases which is the same on the first
part. Comparing the data in the first part and
second part, the difference is the concentration of
acetic acid and methyl acetate. It can be seen
that the concentration of acetic acid in the
second part is much higher than the
concentration of the acetic acid in the first part
with the same period of time. While in the case of
the concentration of methyl acetate, the
concentration of the methyl acetate in the second
part is much smaller than the first part within the
same period of time. This only means that
hydrolysis happens faster in the second part than
the first part. Therefore, this indicates that the
concentration of the acid used will affect the rate
of hydrolysis for the whole reaction. This is
because when the concentration is increased,
there will be more molecules that will collide with
each other making the reaction faster. Plotting
the data in time against concentration using first
order reaction will produce the graph in Figure
6.2.
The third part of the experiment is about
determining the effect of temperature to the
reaction rate of hydrolysis of methyl acetate
making the other factors like concentration of the
components constant. The data gathered in the
experiment are written in Table 6.3. It can be
seen in the table that as time progresses, the
concentration of acetic acid also increases while
the concentration of methyl acetate decreases
which is the same concept in the other parts of
the experiment. The explanation for this is the
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same with the increasing of concentration. When

the temperature is increased, the mobility of the
molecules in the reaction increases because the
kinetic energy of the molecules is increased
allowing them to move faster. When molecules
collide faster, the reaction becomes faster.
Plotting the data acquired into time versus
concentration in first order reaction will create the
graph placed in Figure 6.3.
The last part of the experiment, which is
calculating for the rate constants, activation
energy, enthalpy and entropy. The rate constants
can be determined using chemical kinetics and
the equations are indicated in the introduction
part of the paper. To compute for the activation
energy, the researchers used the relation
k =A e

Ea
RT

where k is the rate constant of the

reaction, A is the frequency factor, or the

Arrhenius constant, Ea is the activation energy, R
is the universal gas constant and T is the
absolute temperature. The computed data are
placed in Table 6.4. The enthalpy used in the
reaction is equal to the activation energy and the
value of entropy is equal to enthalpy over the
temperature used in the reaction.
b. Pasia, Abraham Paul L.
This experiment utilizes the Hittorf method in
being able to determine the transference number
of a hydrogen ion and a nitrate ion. The
transference number represents the fraction of
current carried by the anions or cations of the
total current in an electrolyte solution. In this
experiment, a double U-tube is used as the
transference vessel. This vessel was immersed
in a water bath, in order to keep the temperature
constant. Keeping the temperature constant is
crucial as it is one of the factors that affect the
way that ions transfer. Nitric acid was placed
inside the transference vessel as a source of the
Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

ions that were going to be tested, the ions being

hydrogen ions and nitrate ions. To ensure that
there is movement in the ions; titration was
employed in order to determine the concentration
of the nitric acid solution before and after the
experiment had been done. The solutions were
titrated with 0.1M NaOH. For the original solution,
3.8 mL of 0.1M NaOH was used. After the
transference had been completed however, for
the left compartment of the transference vessel,
the volume of the NaOH used was 3.7 mL, and
for the right compartment, the volume was 3.0
mL. As seen in the values, both had a decrease
in the amount of NaOH needed to reach the
endpoint of methyl red. This means that there
was a decrease in the concentration of the nitric
acid, ensuring the transfer of the ions during the
experiment. Due to the fact that the right side
indicates the cathode, the hydrogen ions would
transfer to this cathodic region. Observing the
amount of NaOH needed, there was a large
difference in the amount of NaOH needed to
reach the end point of the solution. This is due to
the hydrogen ions migrating from the solution to
the cathodic region. This is the same situation
that occurred on the left side, which is the anodic
region. In this region, the nitrate ions migrated to
the metal and can be observed by titrating a
sample of this solution. The large difference
between the amounts of NaOH needed to titrate
the samples is due to the size of the ions
involved. The hydrogen ion is much smaller in
size and thus faster to migrate compared to the
nitrate ion. This is also true when observing the
transference number obtained. The higher the
transference number the better the ion is at
carrying the fraction of current in the electrolyte
solution.
Two copper metals were then used as the
anode and cathode regions in the coulometer
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that was set up. These were weighed before and

after due to the fact that cations, like hydrogen
ions, will attach to the cathode, and the anions,
like the nitrate ions, will attach to the anode. The
copper metals were immersed in 0.5M Copper
sulfate-sulfuric acid mixture. A change in the
weight of the copper metals indicates that copper
ions migrated when put into the solution and a
current is applied. For the left side, a weight
decrease was observed and a weight increase
was observed on the right side. This indicates
that the Cu2+ ion moved from the left to the right.
As the right side is the cathodic region, this
attracts the Copper ions and thus increasing the
weight. This exact opposite occurs in the anodic
region.

reaction, however, is directly proportional with the

concentration of the acid.

reaction can be carried out in dilute solution with

the addition of a strong acid of known
concentration. In doing so, the reaction rate will
solely depend on the concentration of methyl
acetate due to the large amount of water present
in the solution that makes the change in its
amount relatively negligible making it constant
throughout the experiment. The rate of the

After successfully determining the reaction

order, the reaction was again performed and
evaluated but with a higher concentration of
hydrochloric acid. The same trends were
observed but the concentration of methyl acetate
after each reaction time were smaller which only
indicates that the reaction occurs faster with a
higher concentration of the catalyst as seen in

For this experiment, the rate constant of

the reaction was determined at varying
temperature and concentration of the acid. In the
first part of the experiment, the hydrolysis of
Methyl acetate was carried out at room
temperature utilizing a lower concentration of the
acid, which is hydrochloric acid. The obtained
data for this part is summarized in Table 6.1.
From these data, it was observed that as the time
of reaction progresses the amount of sodium
hydroxide, the titrant utilized in determining the
concentration of the acetic acid after the
estimated reaction time, increases which
consequently means that the concentration of the
acetic acid also increases with time. It can be
inferred through the observations made that the
c. Pulido, Froileth S.
reaction could be first order with respect to the
Esters, such as methyl acetate, when reacted
concentration of methyl acetate. To determine
with water, are converted to alcohol and acid as
whether the hypothesis formulated based on the
shown in the reaction below:
trend exhibited by the data is correct, the
concentration of methyl acetate were plotted
C H 3 COOC H 3 + H 2 O C H 3 COOH +C H 3 OH
against time. In addition, the natural logarithms of
the concentrations of methyl acetate left were
The hydrolysis of this organic compound is
also calculated as well as its reciprocal. And he
reversible which means the direction of the
calculated values were also plotted against time.
reaction can be manipulated by addition of
The corresponding correlation coefficient ,R 2,
reagents or adjustment of the conditions under
obtained from the equation generated using
which the reaction is performed, based on the
linear regression were compared and in doing so,
desired outcome. However, the reaction of
it was discovered that the reaction was indeed
methyl acetate with water can be completed with
first order with respect to the concentration of
the presence of excess water but the only
methyl acetate left. The plot generated is shown
disadvantage is that hydrolysis occurs very slow
in Figure 6.1.
with pure water. To address this hindrance, the

Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

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the data summarized in Table 6.2 . However, the

order of the reaction with respect to the reactant
being considered, despite of the increased rate,
does not change with respect to time as shown in
Figure 6.2..
For the last part of the experiment, the
reaction was tested under a higher temperature
and a lower concentration of HCl. Similar to the
previous part of the experiment, the
concentration of methyl acetate as time
progresses also decreases. Using the data
obtained, summarized in Table 6.3, three plots for
the zeroth, first and second order of reaction
were generated and comparing the correlation
coefficients of each plot, it was again proven that
the reaction follows the first order of reaction.
Given the conditions implored for this part of the
experiment, a faster reaction rate was expected.
However, this was not observed due to the
inconsistencies observed in the data set, which
may be caused by personal errors committed in
conducting the experiment.
From the slope of the plot for the reaction at
lower and higher temperature obtained in the first
and last part of the experiment, the activation
energy for the reaction was calculated using the
Arrhenius equationa and was found out to be
4410 J/mole or 4.4 kJ/mole. Using this activation
energy, which is equal to the enthalpy of the
reaction the corresponding entropy, was
calculated by dividing the enthalpy with the room
temperature.

d. Rodriguez, Myron Dominic G.

Spectrophotometric methods employ the
unique interactions of light with different
compounds in order to give significant data for
research. By using state-of-the-art instruments,
such as the used Perkin Elmer UV-VIS
spectrometer, spectroscopic analysis can be
Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

accurately made and be used as stepping stones

for finding the behavior or even identity of the
sample in question.
The experiment employs spectrophotometric
methods in order to determine the amount of the
cobalt concentration in the given sample. It takes
advantage of the behavior of certain compounds
or molecules to absorb different wavelengths of
light, and therefore, give unique signals with
underlying relationships with other parameters
such as concentration and color
Beers Law played an important part in the
concepts behind the experiment. The absorbance
of a compound can be found by the formula:
A=ebc
Through which the findings of the UV-VIS
spectrometer uses to give the absorbance.
The experiment utilizes several
spectrophotometric methods, such as the
formation of the ion complex that will interact with
the UV-VIS spectrophotometric procedures. It is
expected that a metallic compound or ion content
in the material to interact with a ligand in order to
form a complex structure, in which it requires
further reduction supplied by a reducing agent.
Alternatively, it can also be any light-absorbing
material. The solution made will be pinkish in
color, which will in turn, affect the UV-VIS
instrument reading and allow spectrophotometric
methods to proceed due to the absorbance of the
complex exhibited. It can be inferred directly from
the stoichiometric equilibria that the color
intensifies in the prepared samples based from
the amount of the formed complex or the
concentration of the metal present .
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
a. Castro, Ethan Zachary G.
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The
Ultraviolet-Visible
spectrophotometer was used successfully in the
process of obtaining the Ultraviolet-Visible
absorption spectrum of Co(NO 3)2 in the
experiment. Moreover, the optimum wavelength,
or the wavelength where the maximum
absorbance of the solution is obtained was also
pointed out in the process. After the plot was
drawn, analysis of the absolute maximum
revealed that maximum absorbance readings are
given at a wavelength of 510 nanometers, which
makes sense due to the fact that the color of the
solution is in the red to violet region, and colors
at these regions tend to absorb light with the
color of their complement: shades of green.
Another noteworthy achievement of the
experiment is the process of preparing a plot of
absorbance at the maximum wavelength against
the concentration of standard solutions of
Co(NO3)2 prepared, otherwise termed the Beers
Law plot. This linear plot was actually used to
gain knowledge of the concentration of the
analyte in an unknown sample by obtaining its
absorbance at the same wavelength and
substituting it to the linear relationship. This
yielded a concentration of 0.0148 M, 1.33%
different from the true value of 0.015 M.
b. Catanghal, Chris Vergel Y.
As a whole, the experiment was a success.
The researchers were able to determine the
relations of concentration and temperature to the
rate of reaction. This relation is stated in chemical
kinetics which is the study of reaction rates.
There are three objectives for this experiment.
Those three objectives are achieved by
conducting the experiment. The researchers
were able to evaluate the hydrolysis of methyl
acetate using chemical kinetics. The activation
energy was also determined using the relation
mentioned before. When this activation energy
was known then the enthalpy and entropy can
also be computed because the enthalpy is equal
Experiment 6 | Group 3 | December 5, 2016

to the activation energy while the entropy is the

quotient to the enthalpy over the temperature of
the system.
The researchers were also able to identify
the factors that affects the reaction rate of a
reaction and what these factors will cause to the
rate of reaction once they are changed. The
factors are the nature of the reactants,
concentration of reactants, temperature of the
system and the existence of catalyst. The
concentration and temperature are directly
proportional to the rate of reaction. Therefore,
when temperature or concentration increases
then the rate of reaction also increases because
the molecules collide faster when the
temperature is increased and there are more
molecules to collide when the concentration is
increased. When the reaction has a catalyst, the
activation energy is decreased making the
reaction rate faster but the catalyst isnt
consumed in the reaction.
Another thing, the researchers were also
able to determine on how to identify the order of
the reaction by plotting the data acquired in the
experiment using the three orders which are
zero, first and second order. The graph with the
value of linearity closest to 1 is the order of the
reaction. In this case, the graph with the linearity
closest to one is the graph of the first order.
Therefore, the reaction of methyl acetate is in
first order.

c. Pasia, Abraham Paul L.

Transference number is simply the number of
the fraction of current carried by the ions. In the
experiment, the Hittorf method was used wherein
the change in concentration of the electrolytic
solution was determined and the change of the
copper plates. These variables are then
processed in order to determine the transference
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number of both hydrogen and nitrate ions. The

experiment showed that different ions have
different transference numbers according to their
size. In this case, the smaller the ion is, the faster
it will travel and therefore, carry a greater amount
of current. This is especially evident in comparing
a hydrogen ion to a nitrate ion. The transference
number obtained for hydrogen and nitrate ions
were 0.8127 and 0.1873, respectively.
d. Pulido, Froileth S.
By performing the experiment, the
researcher were able to evaluate the hydrolysis
of methyl acetate and the effect of the
concentration of the catalyst used and the
temperature at which the reaction is carried out.
It can be concluded that the reaction rate is
directly proportional to the concentration of the
catalyst utilized. In addition, increasing the
temperature at which the reaction takes place
also increases the rate of the reaction. It can also
be concluded from the results obtained in the
experiment that the hydrolysis performed, is first
order with respect to methyl acetate for dilute
solution.
In addition, the researchers were also able to
determine the energy requirement of the reaction
using the rate constant obtained at two
temperatures and the corresponding change in
entropy. In doing so, the importance of studying
chemical kinetics in performing studies or
synthesis was realized. Studies involving kinetics
that evaluates the role of every parameter in the
reaction could help in designing an efficient
synthesis.

absorbance also increases. This is because the

more compound and complex formation occurs,
the more of the substance will be present that
should absorb the light passing through it. The
UV-VIS spectrometer was also successfully used
for the experiment.
The concentration of the unknown sample
was found through the Beers Law plot and
analysis. When the amount of complexes
increases, the absorbance increases, and as
such, will create meaningful change in that
parameter that can be used to correspond to the
amount of cobalt ions that participated in the
complex formation. This phenomena can be
keenly observed just by looking at the color
intensity displayed by the subjected samples.

References
1. Atkins, P., & de Paula, J. (2006).
Physical Chemistry, Eighth Edition. New
York City: W. H. Freeman and Company.
2. Chang, R., & Goldsby, K. (2011).
General Chemistry: The Essential
Concepts. New York City, United States
of America: McGraw-Hill.
3. Levine, I. N. (2009). Physical Chemistry,
Sixth Edition. New York City: McGrawHill.

e. Rodriguez, Myron
The phenomenon governed by Beers Law
was successfully observed. The relationship of
concentration with the absorbance has been
analyzed. As the concentration increases, the
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