A published study of a chemical reaction A ? P, indicates that if the reactor initially contains A at a concentration CA0(g/L) and the reaction temperature, T, is kept constant, then the concentration of P in the reactor increases with time according to the formula Cp(g/L) = CA0 (1 – e–kt). The rate constant, k (s – 1), is reportedly a function only of the reaction temperature. To test this finding, the reaction is run in four different laboratories. The reported experimental results are given below:
(a) What plot would yield a straight line if the given equation is correct?
(b) Enter the given data into a spreadsheet. For each data set (CP versus t), generate the plot of part (a) and determine the corresponding value of k. (Your spreadsheet program probably has a built-in function to perform a linear regression on the data in two specified columns).
(c) Use the results in part (b) to come up with a good estimate of the value of k at 275oC. Explain how you did it.
(d) If you did the calculation in part (b) correctly, one of the calculated values of k should be considerably out of line with the others. Think of as many possible explanations for this result as you can (up to10)