SPEEDING UP REACTIONS
We will use the reaction between Magnesium and Hydrochloric acid to
try to find out how to speed up reactions.
Mg + HCl -> MgCl2 + H2
If we drop a piece of Magnesium into the acid it fizzes and bubbles
giving off Hydrogen gas. The piece of Magnesium gets smaller and
smaller as it is used up. We will time how long a fixed length of
Magnesium ribbon takes to completely react.
The shorter this time (t), the faster the reaction.
This means that rate depends on 1/t. We call 1/t the 'relative rate'.
If t = 5 s then relative rate = 1/5 = 0.2 s-1 [FAST]
If t = 50 s then relative rate = 1/50 = 0.02 s-1 [SLOW]
There are FOUR ways of speeding up reactions.