A Chemical reaction is the process that produces a chemical change.The rate of a reaction is the speed at which a reaction happens. If a reaction has a low rate that means the molecules combine at a slower speed than a reaction with a high rate. Some reactions take hundreds, maybe even thousands of years while other can happen in less than one second. The rate of reaction depends on the type of molecules which are combining. .
We conducted an experiment to test the rate of reaction when Mg is added to Hcl (aq). The Formulae for this reaction is 2Hcl (aq) + Mg = MgCl2 + H2.
To set off a reaction you need the reactants. Reactants are the starting materials in a chemical reaction. The reactants in the reaction above are Hydrochloric acid and Magnesium.
Products are the new materials produced as a result of a chemical reaction. The products produced above are Magnesium Chloride and Hydrogen.
There are various types of reactions like Endothermic reactions and Exothermic reactions. An Endothermic reaction is a reaction in which heat energy is transferred from the surroundings because more energy is needed to break the existing bonds in the reactants than the amount of energy released when new bonds are formed in the product.
An example of an Endothermic Reaction previously investigated is ammonium nitrate plus water. We used a thermometer before we carried out the experiment to measure the temperature which was 18 degrees Celsius after a few minutes it went down to 0 degrees Celsius.
Exothermic reactions are reactions which give out heat. For example we done a test where pure Iron is reacted with Aluminium Oxide, this reaction let off lots of heat to the surroundings.
To speed up a reaction you could use different methods such as Increasing the concentration of the acids or by heating the Acid. If you heat the acid this will increase the speed at which the molecules collide so the hotter the acid the faster the reaction.