Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

Rates of Reaction Past Paper Questions

PAPER 1 QUESTIONS

1. The reaction between calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid, carried out in an open flask, can
be represented by the following equation.

CaCO3(s) + 2 HCl(aq) 2 CaCl2(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g)

Which of the measurements below could be used to measure the rate of the reaction?
I. the mass of the flask and contents
II. the pH of the reaction mixture
III. the volume of carbon dioxide produced

A. I and II only B. I and III only C. II and III only D. I, II and III

2. The rate expression for a particular reaction is: rate = k[P][Q]

Which of the units below is a possible unit for k?
2 6 1 1 3 1 3 1 2 6 1
A. mol dm min B. mol dm min C. mol dm min D. mol dm min

3. A reaction occurs in four steps. The steps and their rates are shown in the table

step rate
-3 -1
1 0.01 mol dm s
-3 -1
2 0.10 mol dm s
-3 -1
3 0.01 mol dm min
-3 -1
4 0.10 mol dm min

Which is the rate-determining step?

A. Step 1 B. Step 2 C. Step 3 D. Step 4

4. What happens to the rate constant (k) and activation energy (Ea) of a reaction when the
temperature is increased?

A. k increases and Ea is unaffected. B. k decreases and Ea is unaffected.

C. Ea increases and k is unaffected. D. Ea decreases and k is unaffected.

_3
5. At 25C, 100 cm of 1.0 mol dm hydrochloric acid is added to 3.5 g of magnesium carbonate. If
the sample of magnesium carbonate is kept constant, which conditions will not increase the
initial rate of reaction?
3
Volume of HCl / cm Concentration of HCl / Temperature / C
-3
mol dm
A. 200 1.0 25
B. 100 2.0 25
C. 100 1.0 35
D. 200 2.0 25

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Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

- +
6. Consider the reaction 2 I (aq) + H2O(aq) + 2 H (aq) I2(aq) + H2O(l)
2-
In the presence of S2O3 (aq) and starch solution, the time taken for a blue colour to form was
observed at various reactant concentrations.
- 3 3 3
Experiment [I ] / mol dm [H2O2] / mol dm [H+] / mol dm Time / s
1 0.10 0.12 0.01 25
2 0.05 0.12 0.01 50
3 0.10 0.06 0.01 100

-
What is the correct order with respect to I and H2O2?
-
I H 2O 2
A 1 2
B
C 2 1
D 2 4

7. Which statement is correct with regard to the catalysed and uncatalysed pathways for a given
reaction?
A. The enthalpy change of the catalysed reaction is less than the enthalpy change for the
uncatalysed reaction.
B. The enthalpy change of the catalysed reaction is greater than the enthalpy change for
the uncatalysed reaction.
C. The enthalpy change of the catalysed reaction is equal to the enthalpy change for the
uncatalysed reaction.
D. The activation energy of the catalysed reaction is greater than the activation energy for
the uncatalysed reaction.

8. Consider the following reaction.

- - +
5 Br (aq) + BrO3 (aq) + 6 H (aq) 3 Br2 (aq) + 3 H2O(l)
2
The rate expression for the reaction is found to be: rate = k[Br][BrO3][H+]

Which statement is correct?

A. The overall order is 12.
B. Doubling the concentration of all of the reactants at the same time would increase the
rate of the reaction by a factor of 16.
3 1
C. The units of the rate constant, k, are mol dm s .
- -
D. A change in concentration of Br or BrO3 does not affect the rate of the reaction.

9. The rate expression for a reaction is: rate = k [X][Y]

Which statement is correct?
A. As the temperature increases the rate constant decreases.
B. The rate constant increases with increased temperature but eventually reaches a
constant value.
C. As the temperature increases the rate constant increases.
D. The rate constant is not affected by a change in temperature.

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Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

10. Consider the following reaction mechanism.

- -
Step 1 H2O2 + I H2O + IO slow
- -
Step 2 H2O2 + IO H2O + O2 + I fast

Which statement correctly identifies the rate-determining step and the explanation?

A. Step 2 because it is the faster step

B. Step 1 because it is the slower step
C. Step 1 because it is the first step
D. Step 2 because it is the last step

11. Which statement explains why increasing the temperature increases the rate of a chemical
reaction?
A. More molecules have energy equal to or greater than the activation energy.
B. At a higher temperature the activation energy for the reaction is lower.
C. More molecules have the correct collision geometry.
D. The reaction proceeds according to Le Chateliers principle.

12. Which statement is correct about the overall order of a chemical reaction?
A. It can be deduced from the stoichiometric coefficients of the equation.
B. It can only be determined experimentally.
C. It is always affected when the concentrations of the reactants are increased.
D. It is always the same as the molecularity.

13. The rate expression for the decomposition of X is rate = k [X]

Values of half-life were measured at intervals during the decomposition.
Which of the following shows the correct intervals for the successive half lives (in minutes)?

A. 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 B. 0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.4

C. 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, 0.2 D. 0.8, 0.4, 0.2, 0.1

14. Some reactions occur in a series of steps. Which is the best description of the rate-determining
step in a reaction mechanism?

A. The step involving the greatest number of reactant particles

B. The step involving the smallest number of reactant particles
C. The step releasing the most energy
D. The step with the highest activation energy

15. Which reaction uses a homogeneous catalyst?

A. Iron in the Haber process
B. Nickel in the conversion of alkenes to alkanes
C. Acid in the formation of esters
D. Manganese oxide in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide

16. Which changes increase the rate of a chemical reaction?

I. increase in the concentration of an aqueous solution
II. increase in particle size of the same mass of a solid reactant
III. increase in the temperature of the reaction mixture

A. I and II only B. I and III only C. II and III only D. I, II and III

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Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

17. For the reaction 2 NO2(g) +F2(g) 2 NO2F(g) the accepted mechanism is

NO2 (g) + F2 (g) NO2F (g) + F(g) slow

NO2 (g) + F (g) NO2F (g) fast

What is the rate expression for this reaction?

2
A. rate = k[NO2] [F2] B. rate = k[NO2][F2]
2
C. rate = k[NO2][F] D. rate = k[NO2]

18. The activation energy, of a reaction can be obtained from the rate constant, k, and the absolute
temperature, T. Which graph of these quantities produces a straight line?

A. k against T B. k against 1/T C. ln k against T D. ln k against 1/T

19. The graph below shows how the concentration of X changes with time during the following
reaction: X Y

Which graph shows the change in concentration of Y during the same time period?

ANSWERS
1 D 2 B 3 C 4 A 5 A 6 A 7 C
8 B 9 C 10 B 11 A 12 B 13 B 14 D
15 C 16 B 17 B 18 D 19 C

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Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

PAPER 2 QUESTIONS

1. The following reaction 2N2O5(g) 4NO2(g) +O2(g) is described as first order with respect to
N 2O 5

a) Write the rate expression for the reaction. [1]

b) One possible mechanism for this reaction is given below.

Step 1 N2O5 NO2 + NO3

Step 2 N2O5 + NO3 2 NO2 + O2

Describe the rate expression that would result if the rate determining step in the
mechanism is
(i) Step 1. [1]
(ii) Step 2. [2]
Outline your reasoning.

c) Explain what is meant by the term half-life for this reaction. [1]
d) State what is characteristic about the half-life of a first order reaction. [1]

2. a) (i) Define the term rate of reaction. [1]

(ii) State an equation for the reaction of magnesium carbonate with dilute hydrochloric
acid. [1]
(iii) The rate of this reaction in (a) (ii), can be studied by measuring the volume of gas
collected over a period of time. Sketch a graph which shows how the volume of gas
collected changes with time. [1]
(iv) The experiment is repeated using a sample of hydrochloric acid with double the
volume, but half the concentration of the original acid. Draw a second line on the graph
you sketched in part (a) (iii) to show the results in this experiment. Explain why this line
is different from the original line. [4]

b) Nitrogen monoxide reacts at 1280 C with hydrogen to form nitrogen and water. All
reactants and products are in the gaseous phase.
(i) The kinetics of the reaction were studied at this temperature. The table shows the
initial rate of reaction for different concentrations of each reactant.

Deduce the order of the reaction with respect to NO and H2, and explain your reasoning.
[4]
(ii) Deduce the rate expression for the reaction. [1]
(iii) Determine the value of the rate constant for the reaction from Experiment 3 and state
its units. [2]

This question continues on the next page.

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Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

c) The gas-phase decomposition of dinitrogen monoxide is considered to occur in two

steps.
Step 1: N2O(g) N2 (g) + O(g)
Step 2: N2O (g) + O(g) N2 (g) + O2 (g)

The experimental rate expression for this reaction is rate = k [N2O].

(i) Identify the rate-determining step. [1]
(ii) Identify the intermediate involved in the reaction. [1]

d) The conversion of CH3NC into CH3CN is an exothermic reaction which can be

represented as follows.
CH3N C transition state CH3C N
This reaction was carried out at different temperatures and a value of the rate constant,
k, was obtained for each temperature. A graph of ln k against 1/T is shown below.

(i) Define the term activation energy, Ea. [1]

(ii) Construct the enthalpy level diagram and label the activation energy, Ea, the enthalpy
change, H, and the position of the transition state. [3]
(iii) Describe qualitatively the relationship between the rate constant, k, and the
temperature, T. [1]
(iv) Calculate the activation energy, Ea, for the reaction, using Table 1 of the Data
Booklet. [4]

3. Nitrogen(II) oxide reacts with bromine according to the following equation.

2 NO(g) + Br2(g) 2 NOBr(g) H = negative

The data below were obtained for the reaction between NO(g) and Br2(g) at a specified
temperature and pressure.
a) Determine, giving a reason, the order of reaction with respect to NO and the order of
reaction with respect to Br2. [2]
b) Derive the rate expression for the reaction between NO and Br2. [1]

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Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

c) Calculate the rate constant for the rate expression using experiment 1 and state its units.
[2]
d) If the total volume of the reaction mixture was doubled at constant temperature, state the
effect, if any, on
(i) the rate constant. [1]
(ii) the rate of change of the Br (g) 2 concentration. [1]
e) A heterogeneous catalyst may be used in this reaction. Outline how heterogeneous
catalysts work. [2]
f) Draw a labelled enthalpy level diagram for the reaction between NO(g) and Br2(g) , with
and without the use of a catalyst. [3]

4. a) Consider the following reaction studied at 263 K.

2NO (g) + Cl2 (g) 2NOCl (g)

It was found that the forward reaction is first order with respect to Cl2 and second order
with respect to NO. The reverse reaction is second order with respect to NOCl.
(i) State the rate expression for the forward reaction. [1]
(ii) Predict the effect on the rate of the forward reaction and on the rate constant if
the concentration of NO is halved. [2]
(iii) 1.0 mol of Cl2 and 1.0 mol of NO are mixed in a closed container at constant
temperature. Sketch a graph to show how the concentration of NO and NOCl
change with time until after equilibrium has been reached. Identify the point on
the graph where equilibrium is established. [4]

b) Consider the following reaction. : NO2 + CO NO + CO2

Possible reaction mechanisms are

Above 775 K: NO2 + CO NO + CO2 slow

Below 775 K: 2 NO2 NO + NO3 slow

NO3 + CO NO2 + CO2 fast

Based on the mechanisms, deduce the rate expressions above and below 775 K. [2]

c) State two situations when the rate of a chemical reaction is equal to the rate constant. [2]

5. a) (i) The reaction between propanone, CH3COCH3 and bromine, Br2 in the presence
+
of acid, H , is found to be second order overall, but the rate is independent of the
bromine concentration. Write three possible rate expressions for the reaction. [3]
(ii) The concentration of each of the three reactants was doubled in three separate
experiments. Choose one of the rate expressions in (a) (i) and predict the effect on
the rate of the reaction of each of these changes. [2]
(iii) The graph below shows how the concentration of propanone changes with time in
a reaction.

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Chemistry 12 (HL) Unit 2 / IB Topics 6 and 16

Use the graph to confirm that the reaction is first order with respect to propanone
showing your working. [2]

(iv) The overall reaction is: CH3COCH3 (aq) + Br2 (aq) CH3COCH2Br(aq) + HBr(aq)
Describe one observation that would allow you to follow the progress of the
reaction. State and explain the role of the acid in the reaction. [4]

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