A student is studying the rate of the following reaction: C2H4O NaOH --> H20 NaC2H3O Knowing that this is an exothermic reaction, he is measuring the rate of the reaction by timing how quickly the reaction vessel heats up. He notices that if he adds HCl to this reaction, the rate increases dramatically. He also determines that the HCl is being used up during the reaction. Is the HCl a catalyst for this reaction.