Henry Wise

How does temperature effect the reaction of Potassium Permanganate and

Oxalic Acid?

Henry Wise
Tuesday, 2 April 2019

Aim:
To investigate how Temperature affects the rate of reaction, when reacting Oxalic Acid and
Potassium Permanganate.

Hypothesis:
It is predicted that a higher temperature will cause the Potassium Permanganate to react with the
Oxalic Acid faster, and therefore discolor faster. This is because at a higher temperature, the
particles in the Potassium Permanganate will move faster and with more force, leading to more
successful collisions per unit time.

Variables:
Independent Variable – Temperature of Potassium Permanganate
Dependant Variable – The Rate of Reaction
Controlled Variables – Concentration of Oxalic Acid, Concentration of Potassium Permanganate

Materials:
Example:
 75 Potassium Permanganate <0.38M
 30 ml Oxalic Acid <0.67M
 10mL Test Tube
 Water Baths
 Droppers
 Thermometers
 Stop Watches
 Glass Stirring Rods

Method
1. Fill a test tube with 5 ml of Potassium Permanganate
2. Using a thermometer, record the temperature of the Potassium Permanganate
3. Using a dropper, put 5 drops of Oxalic Acid into the Potassium Permanganate and continuously swirl
4. Immediately start the stopwatch, record the time it takes for the Potassium Permanganate to fully
discolour.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4, in a water bath, alter the temperature of Potassium Permanganate to 60°, 50°, 40°,
and 0° Celsius, ensuring the Potassium Permanganate has reached the desired temperature
6. Repeat steps 1 to 7 twice
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Results:
1st Experiment
Temperature of Potassium Permanganate Time it took for the reaction to complete
(°C) (Secs)
0 65.05
19 19.71
40 9.3
50 8.7
60 6.04

2nd Time
Temperature of Potassium Time it took for the reaction to complete
Permanganate
1 43.93
21 13.61
40 13.32
50 10.18
60 6.06

3rd Time
Temperature of Potassium Time it took for the reaction to complete
Permanganate
1 54.88
20 20.50
40 7.22
50 5.72
60 4.85

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Observations:
In general, when observing the Potassium at 0°, a film of condensation resembling fog would materialise
around the edge of the test tube, it would begin discolouring at the top, however it always discoloured
slowly but equally once I started to swirl it. When at 19° the solution didn’t have any outward effect on the
test-tube. It once again began to discolour immediately, it took some time for the reaction to complete,
however nowhere near as much as previously. At 40° the test tube fogged up a small amount directly above
the solution, this time, the reaction completed in almost half the time. At 50°, the test tube almost entirely
steamed up, while the reaction only took a little less time than the last. At 60° there was a large amount of
steam rising up from the solution, this time the reaction was the fastest.

Graphs:
Graph showing the relation ship between Temperature and
Rate of Reaction when reacting Potassium Permanganate
with Oxalic Acid
70

60

50
Temperature (°C)

40

30

20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time the reaction took to complete (secs)

Experiment 1 Experiment 2 Experiment 3

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MYP Science

Graph showing the average relationship

between Temperature and Rate of Reaction
when reacting Potassium Permanganate with
Oxalic Acid
60

50
Temperature (°C)

40

30

20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Time the reaction took to complete (secs)

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Discussion
The time it took for the reaction to complete decreased as the temperature increased. As shown in the graph,
this was an exponential growth, with the rate of reaction increasing as temperature increased. This was
predicted by the hypothesis, as at a higher temperature, the particles have more kinetic energy, meaning that
the particles are more likely to successfully collide, leading to more successful reactions.

Evaluation
Example:
Limitation How limitation affected results Improvement
Starting and If the timer is not started exactly as the reaction Use a video camera and rewatch the
stopping timer completed, the times will not be exactly correct. video at a slower framerate to find
inaccurate exactly when the reaction
completed.
Temperature If the temperature is not measured exactly, the Use a long tape to measure along a
Measured temperature readings will be incorrect, and marked straight line to ensure the
inaccurate skew the relationship. distance is accurate.

Conclusion
It was found that an increase in temperature increased the rate of reaction. The data fully supports
the hypothesis, as at higher temperatures, the particles in the Potassium Permanganate collide more
often and with more force, leading to more collisions per unit time.