CHEM 0420 Lecture 3: Chemical Kinetics
Document Summary
So far, in our chemistry adventures we have focused on the beginning and end of chemical reactions, which is dictated by thermodynamics. However, we have not considered: how reactants interact to form products on a molecular level, how long does it take for a reaction to occur. These questions are answered by studying chemical kinetics. The reaction rate is a time derivative which describes how the changes of a reaction species (a) changes over time (t). The reaction rate with respect to a reactant is negative since its amount decreases with time. The reaction rate with respect to a product is positive since its amount increases with time. The magnitude of the rate with respect to a reaction species depends on the reaction stoichiometry. For the reaction: aa + bb cc + dd: o: reaction rates are determined experimentally and generally decrease in magnitude as a reaction proceeds. (because you run out of reactants, reaction rates depend on the following:
