What are the individual orders of the reactants involved in the oxidation of methylene blue by ascorbic acid?
Rate of reaction= [MB+]^m * [H2A]^n * [HCl]^p
What are m, n, and p?
To determine the individual orders of the reactants involved in the oxidation of methylene blue by ascorbic acid, we can use the method of initial rates.
1. Prepare a series of reactions with different initial concentrations of each reactant.
2. Keep the concentration of two reactants constant (e.g., [H2A] and [HCl]), while varying the concentration of one reactant at a time (e.g., [MB+]).
3. Measure the initial rate of the reaction for each set of concentrations. The initial rate is usually determined by measuring the change in concentration or absorbance of a reactant or product in a short time window at the start of the reaction.
4. Observe how the initial rate changes with different concentrations of the reactant under investigation.
5. Determine the order of the reactant based on the observed changes in the initial rate. The order of a reactant is determined by comparing the proportions of concentration changes with the corresponding changes in the initial rate.
For example, if doubling the concentration of [MB+] doubles the initial reaction rate, the order of [MB+] would be 1. If doubling the concentration quadruples the initial rate, the order would be 2.
By repeating this procedure for each reactant, you can determine the individual orders of the reactants involved in the oxidation of methylene blue by ascorbic acid. m represents the order of [MB+], n represents the order of [H2A], and p represents the order of [HCl].