Title: Rates - Hydrogen Peroxide
Problem Statement: You went to the hairdresser to color your hair and noticed that the
hydrogen peroxide was kept in a dark bottle. Suggest a hypothesis for the storage of the
hydrogen peroxide and design an experiment to test your hypothesis.
Hypothesis: The rate of decomposition of H2O2 is sped up when exposed to light or higher
temperatures.
Aim: To investigate the effects of temperature on the rate of decomposition of H2O2 .
Materials:
- Bunsen Burner
- 500 cm3 beakers
- Electronic scale
- Thermometer
- Water bath
- 2 mol dm3 H2O2
- Distilled water
- Powdered manganese oxide
- Stop watch
- Spatula
- 250 cm3 conical flask
- Graduated gas syringe
- Rubber bongs
Method:
1) Place 100cm3 of distilled water in a beaker and heat it gently until the temperature of the
water bath reaches 20 °C.
2) Take a conical flask and pour 25cm3 of hydrogen peroxide . Put the conical flask in the
water bath and add 1g of manganese (IV) oxide powder to the hydrogen peroxide. Mix
the contents of the flask thoroughly.
3) Next, set up the gas collecting apparatus and start the stopwatch timing.
4) Record the volume of gas collected in the syringe at 10-second intervals from the
beginning of the reaction until 8 sets of readings are obtained.
5) Use these results to create a graph of the volume of gas produced over time.
6) Repeat steps 1-5 at different temperatures, specifically 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C.
Variables:
Controlled: Concentration of H2O2 or Mass Manganese (IV) oxide added.
Manipulated : Temperature of Water Bath
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Responding: Rate of Reaction ( initial)
Expected Results:
Table showing the volume of O2 produced during 10-second intervals at different temperatures
throughout the experiment.
Temperature
20 C 30 C 40 C 50 C
Time/s Vol of O2 Time/s Vol of O2 Time/s Vol of O2 Time/s Vol of O2
Treatment of Results:
Using the data from the table above, a graph can be plotted with the volume of O2 gass
produced against the time for each individual temperature. Once the graphs are plotted,
determine and compare the initial rates of reaction to conclude what temperature is best to store
H2O2 at. If the initial rate increases with increasing temperature, then the rate of decomposition
of hydrogen peroxide increases with increasing temperature and the hypothesis is valid. If the
initial rate decreases with increasing temperature, then the rate of decomposition of hydrogen
peroxide decreases with increasing temperature and the hypothesis is invalid.
Precautions:
Make sure that the stoppers are firmly corked to the conical flask to prevent the escaping of gas.
Sources of Error:
The flask which contained H2O2 , when added to higher temperatures may start decomposition
instantly and cause some volumes of gas to be lost hence, results may be affected.
This study source was downloaded by 835726 from cliffsnotes.com on 03-22-2025 18:20:37 GMT -05:00
https://www.cliffsnotes.com//study-notes/5387993
This study source was downloaded by 835726 from cliffsnotes.com on 03-22-2025 18:20:37 GMT -05:00
https://www.cliffsnotes.com//study-notes/5387993
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