A young chemist runs a chemical reactions at 25ºC and nearly blows up the lab. To avoid an unwanted conflict with the school administrator when he repeats this experiment, the young chemist decides that the reaction rate must be decreased by a factor of 4. At what temperature should the chemist run the reaction to achieve this goal?

a) 21ºC
b) 20ºC
c) 15ºC
d) 5ºC

Question

A young chemist runs a chemical reactions at 25ºC and nearly blows up the lab. To avoid an unwanted conflict with the school administrator when he repeats this experiment, the young chemist decides that the reaction rate must be decreased by a factor of 4. At what temperature should the chemist run the reaction to achieve this goal? 

a) 21ºC 
b) 20ºC 
c) 15ºC 
d) 5ºC

anonymous · Answer

Might have better luck in the Chemistry study room. What's the governing equation?

anonymous · Answer

(From chemistry.about.com) "A general rule of thumb for most (not all) chemical reactions is that the rate at which the reaction proceeds will approximately double for each 10°C increase in temperature."