ESS102H1 Lecture Notes - Ion Exchange, Enzyme, Abscissa And Ordinate
Document Summary
The use of equilibrium mass action models in understanding chemical process in aqueous systems permit a quantitative description of boundary conditions associated with the attainment of equilibrium. A limitation to this approach is that it gives no information concerning reaction pathways or the time needed to reach equilibrium. Instead, these important problems are addressed by chemical kinetics and system dynamics. Several key questions need to be answered in studies of reaction rates and system dynamics. Slow reversible, irreversible, and heterogeneous reactions are those most likely to require interpretation using kinetic models. This may be called the local equilibrium assumption. In kinetics a fundamental distinction is made between elementary and overall chemical reactions. Specifically, an elementary reaction is one that describes an exact reaction mechanism or pathway. Conversely, an overall reaction does not indicate the reaction mechanisms involved or the pathway. In this case, an example would be the reaction arising from the combination of.
