Question

Methyl Acetate reacts in alkaline solution to produce acetate and methanol according to the reaction below:

CH₃COOCH_3(aq) + OH^-_(aq) → CH₃COO-_(aq) + CH₃OH _(aq)

i) In an experiment, the concentration of methyl acetate was monitored as a function of time. The data is given in the table below. Complete the table below by converting the concentration data to an appropriate form that can be plotted to determine whether this reaction is first or second order. Show one example calculation for each column.

Time(min)	[CH3COOCH3] mol/L ([1])		1st Order	2nd Order
0.00	0.01000
5.00	0.00634
10.00	0.00463
20.00	0.00304
30.00	0.00224

ii) Using the values you calculated in i), Plot your data on the graph paper provided assuming a first order reaction and a second order reaction respectively.    Indicate axis titles, values etc.

First Order

Draw the graph

Second Order

Draw the graph

iii) From your graphs determine the actual order of the reaction with respect to methyl acetate.

iv) Calculate the rate constant for the reaction.

I need to know how to do these questions not just the answers, thank you!

Answer 1

R = k[CH₃COOCH₃]ⁿ

ln(R) = ln(k) + n ln([CH₃COOCH₃])

y = c + mx

R = dC/dt (Needs to be determined from plotting concentration vs time and taking slope at time, t).

We need to plot Ln(R) vs Ln([[CH₃COOCH₃]), from the given table

iii) Actual order = 1.74

iv) Ln(k) = 1.12

k = 3.06