Rate Of Reaction Between Magnesium And Hydrochloric Acid

From the results, it is valid to conclude that the reaction with the fastest reaction rate is magnesium and hydrochloric acid. Initially, it was hypothesized that the reaction with hydrochloric acid would have the fastest reaction rate due to its high acidity observed from the pH scale. From there, the following reactions were based on the pH of the acid involved as well as the concentration of hydrogen ions/atoms within the acid molecule. As a result, it was hypothesized that the sulfuric acid reaction would be the second fastest and the acetic acid reaction would be the slowest. Observing the results, the hypothesis on the fastest rate of reaction was correct. Moreover, sources of error may have contributed to the overall result. These few …show more content…
However, I could have used another participant/reactant in this reaction to measure rate of reaction as well, in respect to that reactant. For example, I could have used the same acid throughout, such as sulfuric acid. If that were the case, I would fill three beakers all with sulfuric acid, and add a different piece of metal to each beaker. This would allow me to measure the rate of reaction with respect to the consumption of sulfuric acid.

2. The reaction of Mg and acid is exothermic. How might this have affected the rates of reaction?
There are several factors that affect reaction rate. For example, the concentration of the reactants. Moreover, an additional factor may be the type of reaction, either endothermic or exothermic. An exothermic reaction requires less energy to overcome the activation energy, whereas as the reverse endothermic reaction would require more energy. In addition, the forward exothermic reaction will have a larger barrier than the reverse exothermic reaction, and thus, the endothermic reaction will be slower. Therefore, because these magnesium-acid reactions are exothermic, they occur at a faster rate than they would if they were