Definition of some terms
Rate of reaction is defined as the rate of change of amount or concentration of a particular reactant or product
Rates of most reactions can be related to the concentrations of individual reactants by an equation of the form Rate = k[X]^n, where k is the rate constant, X is the reactant under consideration and n is the order of reaction with respect to X. This expression is known as a rate equation.
Students should note that the rate equation can only be determined experimentally, it is not related to the balanced equation.
The order of a reaction with respect to a given reactant is the power of that reactant's concentration of the experimentally determined rate equation.
The overall order of reaction is the sum of the powers of the concentration terms in the rate equation
The half life of a reaction is the time taken for the concentration of a reactant to fall to half its original value. Students should note that first order reactions have a constant half life. The decay of a radioactive isotope is usually a first order reaction.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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