In a particular chemical reaction, every 2 grams of and 1 gram of are combined and converted to form 3 grams of . Let , and denote the mass (in grams) of , and respectively present at time (in minutes). According to the law of mass action, the rate of change of with respect to is proportional to the product of and . Initially, , and .
- (i)
Show that , where is a positive constant.
- (ii)
It is observed that when , .
Find when , giving your answer to two decimal places.
- (iii)
What happens to for large values of ?
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Worked solution
12(i)
1. Express the remaining masses of $U$ and $V$ in terms of $w$.
Since 2 grams of and 1 gram of produce 3 grams of , the masses of and consumed to produce grams of are and respectively.
Thus, the remaining masses at time are:
2. Use the law of mass action to write the differential equation.
The rate of change of is proportional to . Let be the constant of proportionality:
3. Factorise the expression into the required form and show that $k > 0$.
Let , giving .
Since is being formed initially, the rate of change is positive () when .
Hence shown.
(shown)
12(ii)
1. Separate variables and apply partial fractions to prepare for integration.
Using partial fractions:
When ,
When ,
2. Integrate both sides to obtain the general solution.
Since starts at and must be less than (the limiting mass), . We can rewrite it without the modulus sign as:
3. Use the initial condition to find the constant of integration $C$.
Given that initially when :
Substituting back into the equation:
4. Apply the condition at $t = 5$ to evaluate the parameter $k$.
When , :
5. Substitute $t = 20$ into the specific equation to solve for $w$.
When :
12(iii)
1. Identify the behaviour of the solution's exponential term as $t \to \infty$.
From the integration in part (ii), the relationship between and can be expressed as:
Since is a positive constant, as , the exponent , and therefore .
(Alternatively, if was made the subject: , as , )
2. Deduce the limiting value of $w$.
For to approach , the denominator must approach :
(From the alternative expression: )
Thus, as becomes very large, the mass approaches grams.
approaches (or the mass of approaches )
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