Arrhenius Equation Questions

Arrhenius Calculations

Rate Equations Worksheet

1. Calculation Practice

Calculate the following based on the information provided.
a)
Calculate the value of the rate constant at 25oC for a reaction that has an Arrhenius constant of 2.48×108 and an activation energy of 35.5kJmol-1.

T = 298 K
Ea = 35,500 J mol-1
k = Ae-Ea/RT = 2.48×108 × e-(35500)/(8.31 × 298)
k = 2.48×108 × 5.95×10-7
k = 147.5

b)
Calculate the value of the Arrhenius constant at 0oC given that k is 4.2×10-8 and the activation energy is 92.4kJmol-1.

T = 273 K
A = k / e-Ea/RT = 4.2×10-8 / e-(92400)/(8.31 × 273)
A = 4.2×10-8 / 2.04×10-18
A = 2.05 x 1010

c)
Calculate the value of the activation energy for a reaction if at 20oC, the value for k is 8.82×10-4 and A is 3.51×107.

T = 293 K
ln k = ln A – Ea/RT
Ea = RT(ln A – ln k) = 8.31 × 293 × ln(3.51×107 / 8.82×10-4)
Ea = 2434.83 × 24.41
Ea = 59437 J mol-1 = 59.4 kJ mol-1

d)
Calculate the value of the pre-exponential factor for a reaction that has a rate constant of 2.28×10-2 at 298k and an activation energy of 24kJmol-1.

A = k / e-Ea/RT = 2.28×10-2 / e-(24000)/(8.31 × 298)
A = 2.28×10-2 / 6.18×10-5
A = 369

e)
Calculate the temperature of the reaction where k equals 1.10×10-2, 4.00×109 equals Y (Pre-exponential factor), and Ea equals 88.0kJmol-1.

ln(A/k) = Ea/RT
T = Ea / (R × ln(A/k))
T = 88000 / (8.31 × ln(4.00×109 / 1.10×10-2))
T = 88000 / (8.31 × 26.62)
T = 398 K

2. Complex Calculations

2.
A reaction has an activation energy of 62.5kJmol-1 and a pre-exponential factor of 1.66×1010. Calculate the temperature increase needed to double the rate of reaction when compared to reacting at 25oC.

Step 1: Calculate k at 298 K (25oC)
k1 = 1.66×1010 × e-62500/(8.31×298) = 0.182

Step 2: Calculate T for double the rate (k2 = 0.364)
T2 = Ea / (R × ln(A/k2))
T2 = 62500 / (8.31 × ln(1.66×1010/0.364))
T2 = 62500 / (8.31 × 24.54) = 306.4 K

Step 3: Difference
Difference = 306.4 – 298 = 8.4 K (or 8.4oC)

3.
An experiment is completed twice at 298k, once with a catalyst and once without. The uncatalyzed reaction has an activation energy of 120kJmol-1. The pre-exponential factor is 1.5×1010. The reaction is 20 000 times faster with the catalyst. What is the activation energy of the catalysed reaction?

Ratio kcat / kuncat = 20,000
ln(20000) = (Ea,uncat – Ea,cat) / RT
9.903 = (120000 – Ea,cat) / (8.31 × 298)
24524 = 120000 – Ea,cat
Ea,cat = 120000 – 24524 = 95476 J mol-1
Ea,cat = 95.5 kJ mol-1