Question

in the laboratory, hydrogen gas of good purity can most easily be obtained by the reaction of a strong acid, like sulfuric acid, on a reactive metal, such as zinc:
zn(s)+h₂so₄(aq)→znso₄(aq)+h₂(g)
suppose an engineer decides to study the rate of this reaction. he prepares four reaction vessels by adding 161.5 g of solid zinc and 66. ml of 5.0 m sulfuric acid solution to each, and then filling the remainder of the vessel with distilled water. the volume and temperature of each vessel is shown in the table below.
arrange the reaction vessels in decreasing order of initial rate of reaction. in other words, select a \1\ next to the vessel in which the engineer can reasonably expect the initial rate of reaction to be highest, a \2\ next to the vessel in which the initial rate of reaction would be next highest, and so on.

Explanation:

Step1: Understand the effect of temperature on reaction rate

According to the collision - theory, as the temperature increases, the kinetic energy of the reactant molecules (in this case, \(Zn\) and \(H^{+}\) from \(H_{2}SO_{4}\)) increases. This leads to more frequent and energetic collisions. The higher the temperature, the more likely the reactant molecules will have energy greater than or equal to the activation energy (\(E_{a}\)), and thus the reaction rate increases.

Step2: Compare the temperatures of the vessels

We are given the temperatures of four vessels: \(T_A=11.0^{\circ}C\), \(T_B = 10.0^{\circ}C\), \(T_C=7.0^{\circ}C\), \(T_D = 6.0^{\circ}C\)

Since \(T_A>T_B>T_C>T_D\)

Answer:

A \(>\) B \(>\) C \(>\) D