Sn1 Solvolysis Lab Report

Results and Discussion for Kinetic Study of Sn1 Solvolysis
The Kinetic Study of Sn1 Solvolysis experiment was performed to find the kinetic rate constant and show how a change in polarity of the solvents can actually affect and determine the kinetic rate constant of a solvolysis reaction. A 50/50 mixture and a 60/40 mixture of water and ethanol was used and NaOH was added drop by drop to form HCl, which turned the solution green showing it was changing. This was when the time was recorded. By doing this experiment through titration, it allowed for specific times to be recorded. These times could then be transferred to a graph, where the slope would represent the rate constant of the reaction, which is one of the ultimate goals of this experiment, along with seeing how polarity affects the rate constant.
One of the goals of this experiment was to see how a more polar solvent affected the rate of the reaction being made. To find these results, the first solvent used was the 50/50 ethanol and water and the second
This means the experiment had to be run multiple times until it finally changed at the correct times that were needed. Another error could be that the time recorded for the two solutions water and ethanol was not taken the exact moment the color changed, but instead always slightly later. This human error would cause the graph that was made to have a slower reaction rate then the experiment actually had. Since this human error happened in both solutions though, the graph and data recorded is still able to prove that the process of the Sn1 mechanism and the formation of the carbocation intermediate along with polarity changing the reaction rate speed was successful and can be proven in this