Reaction Lab

Lab report: How does the surface area affect the rate of reaction ?

Introduction

The rate of a chemical reaction (or reaction rate) is a calculation of the total time needed for a reaction to take place, or how quickly the reactants are transferred into products in a chemical process. This rate can be measured in two methods. The first one is to measure the rate at which the reactants are used up per unit of time, while the second method is to measure the rate at which the products are formed per unit of time.
There are several factors that affect the rate of a reaction. Those include temperature, concentration of the reactants, surface area of the reactants, as well as the presence or the absence of a catalyst.
In the following lab, the

When the Vitamin C tablet was dropped in the water, the reaction started and the solution kept fizzing for about 160 seconds. Following, the fizzing stopped meaning that the reaction has ended. However, when the powdered vitamin C was poured into the water, the solution stopped fizzing after about 132 seconds

Average rate of reaction = Total volume of CO2 / Total time for the reaction
Average rate of reaction (Whole Tablet) = 100 / 160 = 0,625
Average rate of reaction (Crushed Tablet) = 100 / 132 =

On the other hand, 132 seconds were needed for the solution with the crushed tablet to stop reacting, which is the one with the reactant having a larger surface area. In a reaction, the absence of fizzing indicates that the chemical process has ended.

Average rate of reaction (Whole Tablet) = 100 / 160 = 0,625
Average rate of reaction (Crushed Tablet) = 100 / 132 = 0,757
0,757 > 0,625

All these information signifies that the powdered vitamin C increased the reaction rate by causing the reaction to take place in a decreased amount of time.
From the graph it is also clear that the rate of reaction took place with a fairly higher speed when the powdered vitamin C was used.
Based on the previous results, the hypothesis was confirmed.
These data also agree with the theory stating that the larger the surface area of a reactant, the faster the reaction. A larger surface area indicates that a bigger quantity of particles are brought into contact with the other reactant, this increases the probability of collisions between the particles leading to a faster