Student Experiment research question

[jinx_58]

Hey.

This is my research question for my student experiment:
How does changing the concentration of hydrochloric acid affect the rate of reaction by time with sodium thiosulphate solution?

Could someone please tell me what I need to improve and how?

Thanks,
E

[K.Smithy]

Hey Jinx_58

What do you mean by "affect the rate of reaction by time"? How are you operationalising the rate of reaction?
Do you keep the amount of sodium thiosulphate constant? If so state the measurement used (e.g. 25mL - whatever amount you used).
The question has some grammatical inaccuracies. Have a read aloud and see if you can phrase it another way.

Hope this helps, if you have any concerns feel free to give us a shout
Katelyn

[jinx_58]

Thank you!

The rate of reaction is measured in seconds, so that's why I said 'rate of reaction by time'.

But I think its best to get rid of it, simply because it doesn't make sense.

[jinx_58]

So, these are my edited drafted research questions:

How does changing concentration affect the reaction rate between hydrochloric acid 5mL and 20mL sodium thiosulphate?

How is the reaction rate affected in the reaction between 5mL hydrochloric acid and 20mL sodium thiosulphate where the concentration has been changed?

During the reaction between 5mL hydrochloric acid and 20mL sodium thiosulphate, how does changing the concentration of hydrochloric affect the reaction rate?

How do various concentrations affect the reaction between 5mL hydrochloric acid and 20mL sodium thiosulphate, specifically reaction rate?

Which one would be better to use?

[K.Smithy]

So, these are my edited drafted research questions:

How does changing concentration affect the reaction rate between hydrochloric acid 5mL and 20mL sodium thiosulphate?

How is the reaction rate affected in the reaction between 5mL hydrochloric acid and 20mL sodium thiosulphate where the concentration has been changed?

During the reaction between 5mL hydrochloric acid and 20mL sodium thiosulphate, how does changing the concentration of hydrochloric affect the reaction rate?

How do various concentrations affect the reaction between 5mL hydrochloric acid and 20mL sodium thiosulphate, specifically reaction rate?

Which one would be better to use?

Stating the amount of sodium thiosulphate is good! However, because you are changing the concentration of the hydrochloric acid it doesn't quite make sense to have a single specified measurement in your research question (because it won't always be 5mL). If you did want to include a measurement you could do something like this (note: this example assumes you are increasing the concentration in 5mL increments - you would input whatever measurements you use):

How does increasing the concentration of hydrochloric acid (5mL, 10mL, 15mL, and 20mL) in a 20mL solution of sodium thiosulphate impact the rate of reaction?

[jinx_58]

Thank you!

This helps so much!

Just another question, because I'm focusing on concentration of hydrochloric acid, is it still necessary to include the amount of sodium thiosulphate I need to use?

Because I've used your example and tweaked it a bit:
How does increasing the concentration of hydrochloric acid (0.5M, 1M and 2M) in a 20mL solution of sodium thiosulphate, impact the rate of reaction?

[Billuminati]

Thank you!

This helps so much!

Just another question, because I'm focusing on concentration of hydrochloric acid, is it still necessary to include the amount of sodium thiosulphate I need to use?

Because I've used your example and tweaked it a bit:
How does increasing the concentration of hydrochloric acid (0.5M, 1M and 2M) in a 20mL solution of sodium thiosulphate, impact the rate of reaction?

Yes that would be great, so say " in a 20 mL (X mmol) solution of..." The reason you do this (I only found out last semester in 2nd year uni chem) is because it shows the scale of the reaction, sometimes if you're reacting kilomoles of some reactants in industrial synthesis, they may not react, have poor final yields or only very slowly, but if you're using millimoles on your lab bench, then they will react pretty well (and vice versa).

I don't know if your teacher is strict with the spelling, but there should actually be a space between your number and unit abbreviation ie write "20 mL" and not "20mL". I feel like a hypocrite for highlighting this, cuz I break the rules and write it like  "20mL" to fit my reports into the word limit all the time.

[jinx_58]

Okay sweet. Thanks again!