Grinding a Tylenol tablet into powder increases the rate of reaction due to increased ____________________.
a
surface area
b
temperature
c
reactants mass
d
concentration
a
surface area
The correct answer is a) surface area.
The correct answer is "surface area."
When a Tylenol tablet is ground into a powder, it increases the surface area of the particles. The rate of a chemical reaction is determined by the frequency of collisions between particles. By increasing the surface area, more particles are exposed to the surrounding environment and can come into contact with other reactant particles. This leads to an increased likelihood of successful collisions, which in turn increases the rate of the reaction.
To answer this type of question, you can use your knowledge of reaction rates and the factors that affect them. Factors such as temperature, concentration, and reactant mass can all influence the rate of a reaction, but in this case, grinding the Tylenol tablet into powder specifically increases the surface area and therefore affects the rate of the reaction.