CHEM101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Reaction Rate, Chemical Kinetics

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHEM101
• Professor: sai yiu

Document Summary

Chemical kinetics is the study of how fast the reactants change into products. The reaction rate is the change in concentrations of reactants (or products) as a function of time. The faster the reaction rate, the faster the reactants convert into the products. The slower the reaction rate, the slower the reactants convert into the products. Knowing the reaction rates is useful in industrial chemistry and applications. The reaction rate depends on concentration of reactants, their physical states, temperature, and catalysts. The more the reactants present, the faster the reaction rate because the more the number of collisions between the reactants would be. The physical state is important because molecules must mix to collide. The more finely divided a solid or liquid reactant is, the greater its surface area, the more contact it makes with the other reactant, and the faster the reaction occurs.