Investigating the Effect of Particle Size on Reaction Rate

THEORY:

The rate of a reaction depends on the particle size also, the greater the surface area of the reactant or reactants, the greater is the speed of reaction. This fact can be investigated qualitatively by following the reaction of marble chips of different size with the hydrochloric acid of the same concentration.

APPARATUS :

1) Test tubes

CHEMICALS:

1) Bench hydrochloric acid 

2) Marble chips

3) Powdered marble chips (coarse grains)

PROCEDURE:

i) Into the test tube no 1, put two pieces of marble chips each of about 1 gm.

ii) Into the test tube no 2, put about 2 gm of powdered marble chips (coarse grains)

iii) Pour 10 ml of the same dilute hydrochloric acid into both the tubes and observe the rate of evolution of CO₂ gas in each. What conclusion can be drawn from the observations?