A student investigates the esterification reaction between propanoic acid, C2H5COOH(l)\text{C}_2\text{H}_5\text{COOH}(\text{l})C2H5COOH(l), and methanol, CH3OH(l)\text{CH}_3\text{OH}(\text{l})CH3OH(l), in the presence of an acid catalyst to produce methyl propanoate and water:
C2H5COOH(l)+CH3OH(l)⇌C2H5COOCH3(l)+H2O(l) \text{C}_2\text{H}_5\text{COOH}(\text{l}) + \text{CH}_3\text{OH}(\text{l}) \rightleftharpoons \text{C}_2\text{H}_5\text{COOCH}_3(\text{l}) + \text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) C2H5COOH(l)+CH3OH(l)⇌C2H5COOCH3(l)+H2O(l)Explain why performing the kinetic study with a large excess of methanol allows the order of reaction with respect to propanoic acid to be determined directly.
In a separate experiment to determine the equilibrium constant, KcK_cKc, the student mixes 12.8 g12.8\text{ g}12.8 g of methanol (CH3OH\text{CH}_3\text{OH}CH3OH) with 37.0 g37.0\text{ g}37.0 g of propanoic acid (C2H5COOH\text{C}_2\text{H}_5\text{COOH}C2H5COOH) and adds a small amount of acid catalyst.
When the mixture reaches equilibrium at constant temperature, 0.20 mol0.20\text{ mol}0.20 mol of C2H5COOH\text{C}_2\text{H}_5\text{COOH}C2H5COOH remains.
Calculate the value of KcK_cKc for this equilibrium.
