Graphics Exercise

Objectives: In this graphics exercise we will discuss to proper way to prepare

graphs as part of some of you laboratory reports and how to use the information
obtained from these graphs to perform the appropriate calculations.

Boyles Law (Volume vs. Pressure)

Title

(liters)

Axis labels

(atmospheres)

Boyles Law (Volume vs. 1/Pressure)

(liters)

(torr-1)

Charles Law (Volume vs. Temperature)

Is there anything missing in this graph???

ln Pressure of CH3NC vs. Time

(x1, y1)

(x2, y2)

ln[CH3NC]t = -kt + ln[CH3NC]0

Y

= mx +

slope = m = (y2-y1)/(x2-x1) = y/x = -k

SAMPLE EXERCISE Determining the Energy of Activation

The following table shows the rate constants for the rearrangement of methyl
isonitrile at various temperatures (these are the data in the table:

(a) From these data, calculate the activation energy for the reaction.
ln k = -(Ea/RT) + ln A
Must be in Kelvin units

SAMPLE EXERCISE continued

Solve: (a) We must first convert the temperatures from degrees Celsius to
kelvins. We then take the inverse of each temperature, 1/T, and the natural log
of each rate constant, ln k. This gives us the table shown at the right:

A graph of ln k versus 1/T results in a straight line, as shown in the figure.

Graph of ln k vs. 1/T for the rearrangement of

methyl isonitrile

(x1,y1)

(x1,y1)

(Kelvin-1)
ln k = -(Ea/RT) + ln A

slope = m = -Ea/R

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SAMPLE EXERCISE continued

The slope of the line is obtained by choosing two well-separated points, as shown, and using the coordinates of
each:

Because logarithms have no units, the numerator in this equation is dimensionless. The denominator has the
units of 1/T, namely, K1. Thus, the overall units for the slope are K. The slope equals Ea/R. We use the value
for the molar gas constant R in units of J/mol-K (Table 10.2). We thus obtain

We report the activation energy to only two significant figures because we are limited by the precision with
which we can read in the graph.

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Graphics Experiment For Chem 1 B

1. The following equation is used to calculate the enthalpy of reaction by measuring the
equilibrium constant for that reaction at various temperatures.
ln Keq = H/RT + constant
In this equation Keq is a equilibrium constant specific for a given chemical reaction, H is the
enthalpy of reaction, R is a constant = 8.3145 J mol1 K1 , and T is the temperature in units of
Kelvin. This equation has the same form as the equation of a straight line (y = mx + b), where m
is the slope of this line and b is the intercept (the value of y when x = 0). A plot of ln (natural
log) Keq vs. T will give a straight line with slope = H/R .
The following experimental data was obtained for the reaction
CO(g) + H2O(g)

Keq
210
73
31
16

CO2(g) + H2(g)

T (K)
478
533
588
643

Using the above information to determine H from a plot of ln Keq (y-axis) vs. 1/T (x-axis).

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2. Chemical reactions occur at a wide range of rates. Some are very fast (chemical explosions,
neutralization reactions...). Others are very slow (rusting of iron, cooking, the aging process).
Chemical kinetics is the area of science that study the rates of chemical reactions and the factors
that control these rates.
The Arrhenius equation relates the rate constant of a chemical reaction (this constant is specific
for a given chemical reaction and it only changes with temperature changes) with the activation
energy (the minimum energy the molecules must have to react).
The Arrhenius equation is k = AeEa/RT , where k is the rate constant, A is a constant, Ea is the
activation energy, R is a constant = 8.3145 J mol1 K1 , and T is the temperature in Kelvin units.
Using natural logs on both sides of this equation we obtained,
ln k = Ea/RT + ln A
A plot of ln k (y axis) vs. 1/T (x-axis) will result in a straight line with slope = Ea/R and
intercept = ln A. Using the tabulated data below determine the Ea energy for a chemical
reaction from a plot of ln k (y axis) vs. 1/T (x-axis).
k (L mol1 s1)
0.0521
0.101
0.184
0.332

T (K)
288
298
308
318

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