M. De Leon / Chemistry 26.

1 (2019) P a g e |1

The Iodine Clock Reaction

M. DE LEON1
1National
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, College of Science, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1101
Performed 31 January 2019; Submitted 7 February 2019

ABSTRACT

The iodine clock reaction was used to examine the relation of temperature, concentration of reactants, and the
presence of a catalyst with the rate of reaction of a solution. Five different runs were used in the experiment
with each run involving the reaction of mixtures A and B. Mixture A and B were mixed and timed until the
mixture turned deep blue. The use of initial rate method was to determine the rate law of the reaction between
[I-] and [S2O82-] and the resulting rate order is a first order with respect to both Iodide and Persulfate. The rate
law is: rate = k[S2O82-][I-]. CuSO4 served as a catalyst and sped up the reaction by providing an alternative
pathway which requires a lower activation energy thus, a faster reaction. The use of Arrhenius equation was
made to solve for the Arrhenius constant and activation energy for reactions with varying temperatures. The
calculated values for Arrhenius constant and activation energy are 1.4x105 sec-1 and 37.12 kj/mol respectively.
Possible errors might come from method, instrumental, and systematic errors.

Introduction method should be applied, wherein it uses the rate

law:
A clock reaction is any chemical reaction where no
visible change occurs for a period of time, until a
sudden change happens unexpectedly [1]. This Rate = k[A]m[B]n (3)
experiment makes use of the iodine clock reaction,
where a mixture of two colorless solutions remains Where k is the rate constant, [A] and [B] are the
colorless for a short time and then suddenly turns concentration fo the reactants, and m and n are the
dark blue [2]. This reaction is explained by the
order of the reaction with respect to [A] and [B]
following chemical equations:
respectively.
S2O82- + 2I- → 2SO42- + I2 (slow) (1)
2S2O32- + I2 → S4O6 + 2I- (fast) (2) Furthermore, in equation 2 above, rate law
describes the dependence of rate on the
There were five different runs in this experiment, concentration of the reactants. This means that the
with each run involving the reaction of mixtures A concentration of [I-] and [S2O82-] is directly
and B. Mixture A contained varying volumes of 0.2 proportional to the reaction rate.
M Ki and 0.2 M KCl, while mixture B consisted of 3
drops of freshly prepared starch and varying On the other hand, to determine the relationship
volumes of 0.1 M K2S2O8, 0.1 M K2SO4, and 4mM between temperature and reaction rate, the
Na2S2O3. All reactons were timed until they turned Arrhenius equation should be applied:
blue. Some of the runs were subjected to different
variables such as varying temperatures and the k = Ae-Ea/RT (4)
addition of catalyst.
Where k is the rate constant, A is the Arrhenius
To determine the relationship of the concentration constant, Ea is the activation energy, R is the gas
of the reactant to the reaction rate, the Initial rates constant and T is temperature in terms of Kelvin.

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With this, the objective of the experiment was to reactants (Peroxodisulfate (VI) ion and Iodide ion),
determine the effect of concentration, varying the rate law found for the whole reaction was
temperature, and catalyst on the reaction rate of the
Rate = k[S2O82-][I-] (5)
persulfate-iodide system.
After each reaction rate was known, the rate
Methodology constant was the derived using the rate law. The
overall order of the reaction obtained is 2 from the
Results and Discussion sum of variable m being 1 and n being 1.

Table 1. Effect of Concentration on Reaction Rate Table 2. Effect of Temperature on the Reaction Rate
[S2O8 [I-] [S2O32-] Time, s Rate, M s-1 and Rate Constant
2-]
Run 2 Temp. (K) Rate, M s-1 Rate
1 0.02 0.08 0.008 47.30 8.46x10-5 constant
M M M Set 1 300.65 3.90x10-5 0.04815
2 0.02 0.04 0.008 102.50 3.90x10-5 Set 2 273.15 9.04x10 -6 0.0113
M M M Set 3 337.15 2.01x10-4 0.25125
3 0.02 0.02 0.008 134.16 2.98x10-5
M M M Table 2 shows the different set-ups of Run 2 placed
4 0.03 0.04 0.008 101.90 3.93x10-5 in varying temperature. Set 1 was in room
M M M temperature. Set 2 was put in an ice bath while Set 3
5 0.04 0.04 0.008 41.17 9.72x10-5 was exposed in a hot bath.
M M M
From this data, it demonstrates that as the
temperature increases, the reaction rate increases
Table 1 shows the varying concentrations of [I-] and as well as the rate constant. Higher temperatures
[S2O82-], the reaction time, and the reaction rate for are favored by reactions due to higher degree of
each run. From the given data, higher collisions as explained by the Arrhenius equation
concentrations of [S2O82-] and [I-] are more favored [4].
in this reaction which is based on the rate law (3)
that shows that the concentration of the reactant is Whenever experiments occur in different
directly proportional with the rate of the reaction. temperature, Activation energy (Ea) and Arrhenius
constant (A) are significant and are always involved.
In the reaction a transition from colorless state to a Energy of activation (Ea) refers to the minimum
blue complex solution was seen. The purpose of the energy requirement for a reaction to occur. Thus,
thiosulfate that was added was to consume the I2 reactions with low Ea have faster rates. On the other
formed from the reaction of persulfate and iodide as hand, the Arrhenius constant (A) refers to the
can be seen in equations (1) and (2). Once all the frequency of successful molecule collisions which
thiosulfate has reacted, I2 then will react with starch means faster reaction rates happen when the
to form a blue complex [3]. degree of collision is high [4].

The next thing that was needed to be done was In the experiment the calculated Ea in the
finding the order of the reaction. In this experiment, experiment was 37.12 kJ/mol and the Arrhenius
the initial rate method was performed to obtain the constant is 1.4x105 sec-1.
reaction orders. Initial rate method makes use of the
rate law (3).

Rate = k[A]m[B]n

Sample calculations were provided in Appendix A.

After the calculation of the reaction orders of each

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mechanism for that is consistent with the

ln K vs. 1/T experiment’s rate law is:
0.004
y = -0.0002x + 0.0027 0.003
R² = 0.9997 (Proposed Mechanism 3)
0.002 I-(aq) + S2O82-(aq)  (slow) *[I…S2O8]3-(aq)
0.001 *[I…S2O8]3-(aq) + I-  (fast) I2(aq) + 2 SO42-(aq)
0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 Solving for the rate of this mechanism, it is equal to:
rate = k[I-][S2O82-], which is very similar with the
Figure 1. Graph of plot ln K vs. 1/T experiment’s rate law (5).

With the use of linear regression, the calculated Although the 1st proposed mechanism also provides
equation of the line of the plot ln k vs 1/T is: a slow and fast step, solving its rate law would give
y= -0.0002x + 0.0027 (6) rate = k[I-]2 which is not consistent with the
with an r value of 0.999719622.
2
calculated rate law.

Table 3. Effect of Catalyst on the Reaction Rate Compared to other studies, the researcher’s results
Run 2 Temp. (K) Rate, M s-1 Rate were slightly different. It may be possibly due to the
constant errors obtained in the experiment. One possible
Set 4 (with 300.65 1.08x10-3 1.35 error committed by the researcher was the use of a
CuSO4 wet beaker. Persulfate or iodide solutions can be
diluted which will lead to a slower reaction [3].
Table 3 shows the effect of catalyst on the reaction Another would be the use of two different beakers.
rate. In this experiment, CuSO4 served as the A wider beaker needs a higher amount of starch-
catalyst and it obviously sped up the reaction rate iodine complex to cover the beaker because of its
by providing an alternative pathway for a reaction. bigger area. Hence, a wider beaker will result to a
The alternative pathway has a lower activation lower rate [3]. Another would be having two
energy and thus proceeding the reaction faster [4]. different observers. The one with a sharper eyesight
will see the appearance of the complex longer than
the one with poor eyesight. Hence, a slower reaction
will be observed for the first and faster for the
second [3]. Also, one possible error is by stirring the
solution. By stirring the solution, there would be an
increase in the degree of collision thus a faster
reaction rate [4]. Last possible error would be not
using freshly prepared persulfate/thiosulfate
solution. Persulfate/thiosulfate can undergo
degradation because of the H+ and sulfur degrading
bacteria present in the solution. This translates to a
lower reaction rate [3].

Figure 2. Pathway of catalyzed and uncatalyzed Conclusion and Recommendations

reaction.
The concepts of chemical kinetics were well shown
Looking at the chemical reaction (1)(2) and the rate by the different portions in this experiment. Higher
law for this experiment (5), it provided a 2 step concentration of reactants, higher temperature, and
reaction(one slow, one fast), and it provided a the presence of catalyst definitely allowed the
second overall order of reaction with a 1st order reaction rate to be faster. Iodide was the excess
with respect to [I-] and [S2O82-]. One proposed reactant in the reaction, causing it to react with
starch resulting to a deep blue color.

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[4] Silberberg, M.S., 2010. Principles of General

All of the objectives were successfully achieved Chemistry, 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill, 529-532
using the data gathered. The initial rate method was
used in determining the rate law of the equation
which is: rate = k[S2O82-][I-]. The experiment was
able to determine the effects of the factors on the
rate of reaction. The calculated rate constant is
0.053925.

With the use of Arrhenius equation the energy

activation and Arrhenius constant was found, which
is 37.12 kJ/mol and 1.4x105 sec-1 respectively.

This study recommends that a statistical tool such

as pooled standard deviation be used so as to know
how disperse the sets of data are.

References`

[1] Zumdahl, S.S., 1986. Chemistry 7th Edition, 473-

514
[2] Whitten, K., et al. 2007. Chemistry. United States
of America: Thomson Brooks Cole. 633
[3] Skoog, D.A., 1992. Fundamentals of Analytical
Chemistry, 6th Edition.

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