Temperature Effects on Reactions
Our world is full of things which we don’t know off, things which are taking place right in front of our eyes and still we are not aware of them. One of the most common occurrence that we can’t see from our eyes are chemical reactions. In some cases, they might be too slow, while on the other hand, some are too fast, but most of them are unrecognisable to us in daily lives. From putting mentos in your coke bottle to the engine of a car, we have reactions taking place all around us. Today we are going to discuss how temperature could affect a given reaction, and in this case, we react with Sodium thiosulphate and Hydrochloric acid. Not only does the temperature have some severe effect on this reaction, but other reactions get manipulated by the temperature in big industries to get the most from the reaction.
Properties of Hydrochloric Acid
Before we dive deep into the reaction of these two compounds, it is fair to have some background about them to make it easier for us to understand how the temperature affects each of them individually.
Hydrogen oxide being a liquid solution of hydrochloric acid is one of the most potent mineral acids. As a result, industries use it extensively in their production. We represent Hydrochloric acid as HCl when writing its chemical formula., and it is the mixture of hydrogen and chloride present in water.
The acid is clear and doesn’t have any colour, but it does have a high pungent odour which can smell even from a distance if its bottle gets opened. The boiling hydrochloric acid rate and the melting point varies depending on its concentration in water.
The fuming hydrochloric acid forms when the hydrogen and chlorine hold 38% of the total concentration with the water. The HCl which is used in industries has a concentration of 30%-35%. On the other hand, if we look at the commercial side of HCl, we get muriatic acid which is in between 20% to 32% of concentration.
HCl can release only one hydrogen positive ion. Thus, it comes in the list of one of the strong acids and also called monoprotic acid. It gives us hydronium and chloride ions when it gets to react with water. If you want to dissolve a strong metal, you can take the help of Hydrochloric acid as it can from oxidised metal chlorides and hydrogen gas. Any biological sample which you break down HCl can help you digest it in no time. You can see its use in photographic, textile, and rubber industries.
Properties of Thiosulphate
Thiosulphate is said to be an important inorganic salt that provides several medical uses to doctors. In other words, we can call it ‘hyp’; it’s the acronym of sodium hyposulfite. The chemical formula of this compound is Na2S2O3. It is also present in the state of pentahydrate salt. Thiosulphate is an ionic compound that has two sodium cations present along with thiosulfate anion. In this compound, we have sulfur atoms at the centre which is bonded with three oxygen atoms and with one sulfur atom. All of these are connected via single and double bonds with the characteristics of resonance.
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Furthermore, the compound is highly soluble in water and has a physical property as a crystalline solid which is odourless. Under normal temperature and conditions, it remains solid, but when some extra heat is applied, it dissolves to give sodium sulfate and sodium polysulfide.
Effects of Temperature on Rate of Reaction
From this reaction, we get precipitate of sulfur forms. The time which is taken to produce a certain amount of precipitate of sulfur is used to show us the rate of reaction for lab report discussion. One thing you need to keep in mind is to wear glasses and keep your face away from the test tube while the reaction is taking place. Because of sulfur dioxide as a by-product of this reaction which is a toxic gas, it can cause you breathing issues if you inhale it.
The rate of reaction of the two compounds is directly proportional to the increase in temperature. When we increase the temperature, the molecules of a compound start to vibrate at a much faster rate resulting in a collision with particles of another compound. As a result, their collision leads to the reaction of the two compounds, and more the collision, the shorter will be the time in which the reaction gets completed.
But hold on, that’s not it when we increase the temperature the activation energy also reaches to its potential. Meaning the particles have now enough energy to start the reaction. The minimum energy which is required to start up a reaction between two compounds or chemicals is called activation energy.