5.2 Introduction to Rate Law

Represent experimental data with a consistent rate law expression.

• Experimental methods can be used to monitor the amounts of reactants and/or products of a reaction over time and to determine the rate of the reaction.
• The rate law expresses the rate of a reaction as proportional to the concentration of each reactant raised to a power.
• The power of each reactant in the rate law is the order of the reaction with respect to that reactant. The sum of the powers of the reactant concentrations in the rate law is the overall order of the reaction.
• The proportionality constant in the rate law is called the rate constant. The value of this constant is temperature dependent and the units reflect the overall reaction order.
• Comparing initial rates of a reaction is a method to determine the order with respect to each reactant.