I. Introduction

The formation of products from reactants is the essence of chemistry. As you will find out in Unit 5 Module 4 of your textbook, thermodynamics can be used to identify reactions that are spontaneous (favorable), as well as the equilibrium state of the reaction. However, on a practical level the rate at which reactants are formed is as important as the overall favorability. If the reaction is too slow, products may never form. If the reaction is too fast, the reaction can destroy the system (i.e. an explosion).

There are several strategies for implementing control over the rate of a reaction: the concentration of the reactants and products on which the rate depends can be varied, the temperature at which the reaction takes place can be adjusted, a catalyst can be used to speed up a reaction, or an inhibitor can be used to slow down the reaction. In this topic, you will identify several of the key variables the impact the rate of a chemical reaction, and you will design a chemical experiment to investigate a variable of your choice.