Question

A student performs an experiment to investigate the decomposition of sodium thiosulfate in an acidic solution, as represented by the equation below. Determine the order of the reaction.

Na₂S₂O₃+2HCl→2NaCl+S+SO₂+H₂O
a) The reaction is zero order.
b) The reaction is first order.
c) The reaction is second order.
d) The reaction is third order.

Answer 1

The reaction is zero order.

Step-by-step explanation:

The order of a reaction is a measure of how the rate of the reaction changes with the concentration of the reactants. To determine the order of the reaction, we need to look at the coefficients of the reactants in the balanced equation.

In the given equation, the coefficients of the reactants are 1 for Na₂S₂O₃ and 2 for HCl. The rate of the reaction is dependent on the concentration of Na₂S₂O₃ and not on the concentration of HCl. Therefore, the reaction is zero order with respect to Na₂S₂O₃.

The answer is a) The reaction is zero order.