Question

The hydrolysis of ethyl acetate in alkaline conditions yields acetate ion and ethanol. The rate of the reaction increases 6.37 times its original value when the temperature is increased from 15°C to 45°C. Calculate the activation energy of this reaction.

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

Hydrolysis is a chemical decomposition involving breaking of a bond and the addition of elements

of water. In this hydrolysis of ester (ethyl acetate) with an alkali (sodium hydroxide), HCl was

used as catalyst to accelerate it. 1ml and 2ml of ethyl acetate was injected separately into the

500ml reactor vessels which contains 0.05N of NaOH and thoroughly mixed. At regular time

interval, 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 90 minutes, 25ml of each of the samples were withdrawn into a

250ml conical flask containing 0.05N HCl, and titrated against 0.05N NaOH solution using

phenolphthalein as indicator. From the titre values, the hydrolysis involving the 1ml ethyl acetate

was faster than that of the 2ml ethyl acetate, indicating that the higher the concentration the faster

the rate of reaction. The rate constant after evaluation from the graphs was approximately

0.003min-1

cm-3

for the 1ml and 2ml ethyl acetate, signifying that while the r