• The?rate of reaction?refers to the change in the amount or concentration of a reactant OR product per unit time
• It can be found by:
  • Measuring the?decrease in the concentration of a reactant?over time
  • Measuring the?increase in the concentration of a product?over time
  • The units for rate of reaction are mol dm-3?s-1

   

Rate equation

• The following general reaction?will be used as an example to study the rate of reaction

D (aq) → E (aq) + F (g)

• The rate of reaction at different concentrations of D?is measured and tabulated

Rate of reactions table

• A?directly proportional?relationship between the?rate?of the reaction and?concentration of D?is observed when a graph is plotted

Rate of reaction over various concentrations of D

• Rate equations can?only?be determined?experimentally?and cannot be found from the?stoichiometric equations

Rate of reaction =?k?[A]m?[B]n

[A] and [B] = concentrations of reactants

m?and?n?= orders of the reaction

• All of the reactant concentrations will have an order of 0, 1 or 2, depending on the effect that they have on the rate of the reaction
• The products are never involved in the rate equation, as they have no effect on the rate of the reaction
• For the above reaction, the rate equation would beRate =?k?[D]
• Let's take a real life example:

2NO (g) + 2H2?(g) → N2?(g) + 2H2O (g)

• The?rate equation?for the formation of nitrogen gas (N2) from nitrogen oxide (NO) and hydrogen (H2) is:

rate =?k?[NO]2?[H2]

• Notice that the?[H2] does not have an order of 2
  • This is because the order must be determined experimentally, not from the equation

   

• The orders of the reaction will be calculated from a table of experimental data, or from a graph
• The rate equation for the reaction above shows that:
  • When changing the concentration of NO to determine how it affects the rate, while keeping [H2] constant
  • The change in rate is?proportional to?the?square?of [NO]

   

Rate =?k1?[NO]2

• And, when changing the [H2] to determine how it affects the rate while keeping [NO] constant
• The change in rate is?proportional?to [H2]

Rate =?k2?[H2]

• Combining the two equations gives the?overall rate equation?(where?k?=?k1?+ k2)

Rate =?k?[NO]2?[H2]

• For a catalyst to appear in the rate equation:
  • It must have a measurable and quantifiable effect on the rate of reaction
  • The catalyst must be homogeneous
  • If a chemical appears in a rate equation but is not one of the reactants, then it is a catalyst

   

Order of reaction

• The?order?of a reactant shows how the concentration of a reactant affects the rate of reaction
  • It is the power to which the concentration of that reactant is raised in the rate equation
  • The order can be 0, 1 or 2
  • When the order of reaction of a reactant is 0, this means that it has no effect on the rate of the reaction and therefore is not included in the rate equation at all
  • When the order of reaction of a reactant is 1, the rate is directly proportional to the concentration of that reactant
  • When the order of reaction of a reactant is 2, the rate is directly proportional to the square of the concentration of that reactant

   

• The?overall order of reaction?is the sum of the powers of the reactants in a rate equation
• For example, in the following rate equation, the reaction is:

Rate =?k?[NO]2?[H2]

• • Second-order with respect to NO
  • First-order with respect to H2
  • Third-order overall (2 + 1)

   

Half-life

• The?half-life (t1/2)?is the time taken for the concentration of a?limiting reactant?to become half of its initial value