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Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: Ruch on October 29, 2020, 08:56:21 PM

Title: Determining order of the reaction between Magnesium and HCl
Post by: Ruch on October 29, 2020, 08:56:21 PM

Hey!
I am trying to determine the activation energy in the reaction between HCl and Mg, but to do so, I need to find the order of the reaction to get the rate constant (I need the rate constant at different temperatures to find activation energy). After conducting the experiment, I determined that the order of HCl was 1.87, but how would I find the order of magnesium? Magnesium is a pure solid, so it's not like I can change its concentration. Should I just leave it out of the rate law expression?
I also have another question: Can orders be non-integer number values? I have my order of HCl listed as 1.87, but should I just round it to 2?
Help would be much appreciated, thanks.