Order of reaction

• For the general reaction

A + B →?C + D

• The?order of reaction?shows how the concentration of a reactant affects the rate of reaction

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

• When m or n is zero = the concentration of the reactants does not affect the rate
• When?the order of reaction?(m or n) of a reactant is 0, its concentration is ignored
• The?overall order of reaction?is the sum of the powers of the reactants in a rate equation
• For example, in the reaction below, the overall order of reaction is 2 (1 + 1)

Rate =?k?[NO2] [Cl2]

Order of reaction from concentration vs. time graphs

• In a?zero-order?the concentration of the reactant is inversely proportional to time
  • This means that the?concentration?of the reactant?decreases?with?increasing time
  • The graph is a?straight line?going down

   

Concentration-time graphs of a zero-order reaction

• In a?first-order?reaction the concentration of the reactant decreases with time
  • The graph is a curve going downwards and eventually plateaus

   

Concentration-time graphs of a first-order reaction

• In a?second-order?reaction the concentration of the reactant decreases more steeply with time
  • The concentration of reactant decreases?more?with increasing time compared to in a first-order reaction
  • The graph is a steeper curve going downwards

   

Concentration-time graphs of a second-order reaction

Order of reaction from rate vs. time graphs

• The?progress?of the reaction can be followed by measuring the?initial?rates?of the reaction using various?initial concentrations?of each reactant
• These rates can then be plotted against time in a rate-time graph
• In a?zero-order?reaction the rate doesn’t depend on the concentration of the reactant
  • The rate of the reaction therefore remains constant throughout the reaction
  • The graph is a?horizontal line
  • The rate equation for this one reactant is?rate =?k

   

Rate-time graph of a zero-order reaction

• In a?first-order?reaction the rate is directly proportional to the concentration of a reactant
  • This means that if you doubled the concentration of the reactant, the rate would also double
  • If you increased the concentration of the reactant by a factor of 3, the rate would increase by this factor as well
  • The graph is a?straight line
  • The rate equation for this one reactant is?rate =?k?[A]

   

Rate-time graph of a first-order reaction

• In a?second-order?reaction, the rate is directly proportional to the square of concentration of a reactant
  • This means that if you doubled the concentration of the reactant then the rate would increase by 4 (22)
  • If you increase the concentration by a factor of 3, then the rate would increase by a factor of 9 (32)
  • The graph is a?curved line
  • The rate equation for this one reactant is?rate =?k?[A]2

   

Rate-time graphs of a second-order reaction

Order of reaction from half-life

• The order of a reaction can also be deduced from its?half-life?(t1/2?)
• The?half-life (t1/2)?is the time taken for the concentration of a?limiting reactant?to become half of its initial value
• For a?zero-order?reaction the successive half-lives decrease with time
  • This means that it would take?less?time for the concentration of reactant to halve as the reaction progresses

   

• The half-life of a?first-order?reaction remains?constant?throughout the reaction
• • • The amount of time required for the concentration of reactants to halve will be the same during the entire reaction

     

• For a?second-order?reaction, the half-life increases with time
• • This means that as the reaction is taking place, it takes more time for the concentration of reactants to halve

   

Half-lives of zero, first and second-order reactions

Calculating the initial rate

• The?initial rate?can be calculated using the?initial concentrations?of the reactants in the rate equation
• For example, in the reaction of bromomethane (CH3Br) with hydroxide (OH-) ions to form methanol (CH3OH) the reaction?equation?and?rate?are as follows:

CH3Br + OH-?→ CH3OH + Br-?(aq)

Rate =?k?[CH3Br][OH-]

Where?k?= 1.75 x 10-2?mol-1?dm3?s-1

• If the?initial concentrations?of CH3Br and OH-?are 0.0200 and 0.0100 mol dm-3?respectively, the?initial rate?of reaction is:

Rate =?k?[CH3Br] [OH-]

Initial rate = (1.75 x 10-2) x (0.0200) x (0.0100)

Initial rate = 3.50 x 10-6?mol dm-3?s-1

Deriving Rate Equations from data

• Let's take the following reaction and derive the rate equation from experimental data

(CH3)3CBr? +? OH-? →? (CH3)3COH? +? Br-

Table to show the experimental data of the above reaction

• To derive the rate equation for a reaction, you must first determine all of the orders with respect to each of the reactants
• This can be done using a graph, but it doesn't have to be - you can use tabulated data provided
• Take the reactants one at a time and find the order with respect to each reactant individually

• Identify two experiments where the concentration of the reactant you are looking at first changes, but the concentrations of all other reactants remain constant
• Repeat this for all of the reactants, one at a time, until you have determined the order with respect to all reactants

Order with respect to [(CH3)3CBr]

• From the above table, that is experiments 1 and 2
  • The [(CH3)3CBr] has doubled, but the [OH-] has remained the same
  • The rate of the reaction has also doubled
  • Therefore, the order with respect to?[(CH3)3CBr] is 1 (first order)

   

Order with respect to [OH-]

• From the above table, that is experiments 1 and 3
  • The [OH-] has doubled, but the?[(CH3)3CBr] has remained the same
  • The rate of reaction has increased by a factor of 4 (i.e. increased by 22)
  • Therefore, the order with respect to?[OH-] is 2 (second order)

   

Putting the rate equation together

• Once you know the order with respect to all of the reactants, you put them together to form the rate equation
• If a reactant has an order of 0, then you do not include it in the rate equation
• If a reactant has an order of 1, then you do not need to include the number 1 as a power
• If a reactant has an order of 2, then you raise that reactant concentration to the power of 2
• For this reaction, the rate equation will be:

Rate = k [(CH3)3CBr] [OH-]2