CHEMICAL KINETICS - BOARD QUESTIONS - (2010-2024)

2010

1. (a) Explain the following terms:

(i) Rate of a reaction
(ii) Activation energy of a reaction
(b) The decomposition of phosphine, PH3, proceeds according to the following equation:
4PH3(g) P4(g) + 6H2(g)
It is found that the reaction follows the following rate equation:
Rate = k[PH3]
The half-life of PH3 is 37.9 s at 120°C
(i) How much time is required for ¾ th of PH3 to decompose ?
(ii) What fraction of the original sample of PH3 remains behind after 1 minute?
2. (a) Explain the following terms:
(i) Order of a reaction
(ii) Molecularity of a reaction
(b) The rate of a reaction increases four times when the temperature changes from 300 K
to 320 K. Calculate the energy of activation of the reaction, assuming that it does not
change with temperature. (R = 8.314 J K-1 mol-1)

2011

3. (a) Express clearly what you understand by ‘rate expression’ and ‘rate constant’ of a
reaction.
(b) Nitrogen pentoxide decomposes according to the equation:
2N2O5(g) 4NO2(g) + O2(g)
This first order reaction was allowed to proceed at 40°C and the data given below were
collected:

[N2O5] M Time (min)

0.400 0.00
0.289 20.00
0.209 40.00
0.151 60.00
0.109 80.00

(i) Calculate the rate constant for the reaction. Include units with your answer.
(ii) Calculate the initial rate of reaction.
(iii) After how many minutes will [N2O5] be equal to 0.350 M.
4. (a) Define:
(i) Order of a reaction
(ii) Elementary step in a reaction
(b) A first order reaction has a rate constant value of 0.00510 min-1. If we begin with
0.01 M concentration of the reactant, how much of the reactant will remain after
3.00 hours ?
2012

5. Define the following terms:

(i) Order of a reaction
(ii) Activation energy of a reaction
6. Consider the reaction
2A + B C + D
Following results were obtained in experiments designed to study the rate of reaction:

Expt. No. Initial conc. (mol L-1) Initial rate of

formation
[A] [B] [D] (M/min)
1 0.10 0.10 1.5 x 10-3
2 0.20 0.20 3.0 x 10-3
3 0.20 0.40 6.0 x 10-3

(a) Write the rate law for the reaction.

(b) Calculate the value of rate constant for the reaction.
(c)Which of the following possible reaction mechanisms is consistent with the rate law
found in (a).
I. A + B C + E (slow)
A + B C + E (fast)
II. B C + E (slow)
A + E F (fast)
A + F D (fast)

2013

7. The rate constant for a first order reaction is 60 s-1. How much time will it take to reduce
the initial concentration of the reactant to 1/10th of its initial value ?
8. For a chemical reaction R P, the variation in the concentration ln[R] vs time t plot is
given as:

ln[R]

t (s)
For this reaction:
(i) What is the order of the reaction ?
(ii) What is the slope of the curve ?
(iii) What is the unit of rate constant ‘k’ ?

2014

9. Define half-life of a reaction. Write the expression of half-life for:

(i) Zero order reaction
(ii) First order reaction
10. The following data were obtained during the first order thermal decomposition of SO2Cl2
at a constant volume.
SO2Cl2(g) SO2(g) + Cl2(g)

Experiment Time/s-1 Total pressure/atm

1 0 0.4
2 100 0.7

Calculate the rate constant. (Given: log 4 = 0.6021; log 2 = 0.3010)

2015

11. (a) Define the following terms:

(i) Activation energy
(ii) Rate constant
(b) A first order reaction takes 10 minutes for 25% decomposition. Calculate t½ for the
reaction. (Given log 2 = 0.3010, log 3 = 0.4771, log 4 = 0.6021)
12. (a) For a chemical reaction R P, the variation in the concentration, ln[R] vs time (s)
plot is given as:

ln[R]

t (s)
(i) Predict the order of the reaction.
(ii) What is the slope of the curve ?
(iii) Write the unit of rate constant for this reaction.
(b) Show that the time required for 99% completion is double of the time required for the
completion of 90% reaction.

2016

13. Show that in a first order reaction, time required for completion of 99.9% is 10 times that
of half-life (t½) of the reaction.
14. Derive integrated rate equation for rate constant for a first order reaction.
15. For the first order thermal decomposition reaction, following data were obtained:
C2H5Cl(g) C2H4(g) + HCl(g)

Time/sec Total pressure/atm

0 0.30
300 0.50

Calculate the rate constant. (Given log 2 = 0.3010, log 3 = 0.4771, log 4 = 0.6021)
2017

16. (a) A first order reaction is 75% completed in 40 minutes. Calculate its t½.
(b) Predict the order of the reaction in the given plots:

t½ t½

[R]0 [R]0

Where [R]0 is the initial concentration of the reactant (Given log 2 = 0.3010,log 4 = 0.6021)
(c) The following data were obtained for the reaction:
2NO + O2 2 NO2

Experiment [NO]/M [O2]/M Initial rate of formation of

NO2/M min-1
1 0.3 0.2 7.2 x 10-2
2 0.1 0.1 6.0 x 10-3
3 0.3 0.4 2.88 x 10-1
4 0.4 0.1 2.40 x 10-2

(i) Find the order of reaction with respect to NO and O2.

(ii) Write the rate law and overall order of reaction.
(iii) Calculate the rate constant (k).

2018

17. For the reaction:

2N2O5(g) 4NO2(g) + O2(g)
The rate of formation of NO2(g) is 2.8 x 10-3 M s-1. Calculate the rate of disappearance of
N2O5(g).
18. A first order reaction is 50% completed in 40 minutes at 300 K and in 20 minutes at 320 K.
Calculate the activation energy of the reaction.
(Given log 2 = 0.3010, log 4 = 0.6021, R = 8.314 J K-1 mol-1)

2019

19. (a) Consider the reaction R P, for which the change in concentration of R with time is
shown by the following graph:

conc.[R]

Time
 (i) Predict the order of reaction.
(ii) What does the slope of the curve indicate?
(b) The rate of reaction quadruples when temperature changes from 293 K to 313 K.
Calculate Ea assuming that it does not change with time. (R = 8.314 J K-1 mol-1)
20. (a) Draw the plot of ln k vs 1/T for a chemical reaction. What does the intercept represent?
What is relation between slope and Ea ?
(b) A first order reaction takes 30 minutes for 20% decomposition. Calculate t½
(log 2 =0.3010)

2020

21. Calculate the overall order of the reaction whose rate law expression was predicted as:
Rate = k [NO]3/2 [O2]1/2
22. A reaction is first order with respect to reactant A as well as with respect to reactant B.
Give the rate law. Also give one point of difference between average rate and
instantaneous rate.
23. Calculate the overall order of reaction whose rate law is given by:
Rate = k [NH3]5/2 [O2]1/2
24. Calculate the overall order of the reaction whose rate law is given by:
Rate = k [SO2]1/4 [O2]3/4
25. (a) Vishal plotted a graph between concentration of R and time for a reaction R P.
On the basis of this graph, answer the following questions:

[R0]

Conc. of R

Time
(i) Predict the order of reaction.
(ii) What does the slope of the line indicate?
(iii) What are the units of rate constant?
(b) A first order reaction takes 25 minutes for 25% decomposition. Calculate t½.
(Given log 2 = 0.3010, log 3 = 0.4771, log 4 = 0.6021)
26. (a) The rate constant for a first order reaction is 60 s-1. How much time will it take to
reduce the initial concentration of the reactant to its 1/16th value?
(b) Write two factors that affect the rate of a chemical reaction.
(c) Write two conditions for the collisions to be effective collisions.

2022

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

The rate law for a chemical reaction relates the reaction rate with the concentrations or
partial pressures of the reactants. For a general reaction aA + bB → C with no intermediate
steps in its reaction mechanism, meaning that it is an elementary reaction, the rate law is
given by r = k[A]x[B]y, where [A] and [B] express the concentrations of A and B in moles
per litre. Exponents x and y vary for each reaction and are determined experimentally. The
value of k varies with conditions that affect reaction rate, such as temperature, pressure,
surface area, etc. The sum of these exponents is known as overall reaction order.
 A zero order reaction has a constant rate that is independent of the concentration of the
reactants. A first order reaction depends on the concentration of only one reactant. A
reaction is said to be second order when the overall order is two. Once we have determined
the order of the reaction, we can go back and plug in one set of our initial values and solve
for k.
27.(i) Calculate the overall order of a reaction which has the following rate expression:
Rate = k[A]1/2 [B]3/2
(ii) What is the effect of temperature on rate of reaction?
(iii) What is meant by rate of a reaction?
(iv) A first order reaction takes 77.78 minutes for 50% completion. Calculate the time
required for 30% completion of this reaction. (log 10 = 1, log 7 = 0.8450)
OR
A first order reaction has a rate constant 1 x 10-3 per sec. How long will 5 g of this
reactant take to reduce to 3 g? (log 3 = 0.4771; log 5 = 0.6990)

2023

28. The unit of the rate of reaction is the same as that of the rate constant for a:
(a) First order reaction (b) Second order reaction
(c) Zero order reaction (d) It cannot be same
29. The rate of reaction, A + B → Products, is given by the equation r = k[A][B]. If B is taken
in large excess, the order of reaction would be:
(a) 2 (b) 0 (c) 1 (d) Cannot be predicted
30. The half-life of a reaction is doubled when initial concentration is doubled. The order of
the reaction is:
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 0
31. Assertion(A): Order and molecularity of a reaction are always same.
Reason(R): Complex reactions involve a sequence of elementary reactions and the slowest
step is rate determining.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
32. A chemical reaction; 2N2O5 (g) → 4NO2 (g) + O2 (g)
in gas phase was carried out in closed vessel. The concentration of NO2 was found to
increase by 5 x 10-3 mol L-1 in 10 seconds. Calculate:
(a) The rate of formation of NO2 and (b) The rate of consumption of N2O5.
33. The half-life of a first order reaction is 60 minutes. How long will it take to consume 90% of
the reactant? [Given: log 2 = 0.3010, log 3 = 0.4771, log 10 = 1]
34. The following data were obtained for the reaction:
2NO2 (g) + F2 (g) → 2NO2F (g)
Experiment [NO2]/M [F2]/M Initial rate M min-1
No.
1 0.2 0.05 6 x 10-3
2 0.4 0.05 1.2 x 10-2
3 0.8 0.10 4.8 x 10-2
Determine the overall order of reaction.
35. The rate of a reaction doubles when temperature changes from 27°C to 37°C. Calculate the
energy of activation for the reaction. (R = 8.314 J K-1 mol-1)
(Given: log 2 = 0.3010, log 3 = 0.4771, log 4 = 0.6021)
2024

36. The addition of catalyst during a chemical reaction alters which of the following quantities of
the reaction?
(a) Enthalpy (b) Activation energy (c) Entropy (d) Internal energy
37. For the elementary reaction P → Q, the rate of disappearance of ‘P’ increases by a factor of 8
upon doubling the concentration of ‘P’. The order of the reaction with respect to ‘P’ is:
(a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 2 (d) 1
38. Half-life period of a first order reaction is 1386 seconds. The rate constant (k) of the reaction
is:
(a) 0.5 x 10-3 s-1 (b) 5.0 x 10-3 s-1 (c) 5 x 10-2 s-1 (d) 0.5 x 10-2 s-1
39. The rate of the reaction 2A + B2 → 2AB is given by; Rate = k [A]2 [B2]
The value of rate constant (k) can be increased by:
(a) Increasing the concentration of A (b) Increasing the concentration of B
(c) Increasing the temperature (d) All the above three
40. For a certain reaction R → products, a plot of log [R] vs time gives a straight line with a slope
of – 1.25 s-1. The order of the reaction is:
(a) One (b) Zero (c) Two (d) Fractional
41. For a zero order reaction A → products, t1/2 is:
["]! %.'(' )*+ % , ["]!
(a) (b) (c) (d)
$ $ $ ["]! %$
Where [A]0 = initial concentration of the reactant, k = rate constant
42. A first order reaction has a rate constant 1.25 x 10-3 s-1. How long will 5 g of this reactant
take to reduce to 2.5 g? [log 2 = 0.301, log 3 = 0.4771, log 4 = 0.6021]
43. The rate of a gaseous reaction triples when temperature is increased from 17℃ to 27℃.
Calculate the energy of activation for this reaction.
[Given: 2.303 R = 19.15 JK-1 mol-1, log 3 = 0.48]