RATE LAW FOR A

REACTION
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
• RATE LAW – Describes the relationship between the reaction rate
and the concentration of reactants
• INITIAL RATE OF REACTION – Instantaneous rate obtained just
after the reaction starts.
• REACTION ORDER – The power to which the concentration of a
reactant is raised in a rate law.
• OVERALL REACTION ORDER – The sum of all individual
reaction orders.
 RATE OF REACTION
•  
STEPS ON HOW TO DETERMINE THE RATE
LAW BASED ON EXPERIMENTAL DATA:
1) Identify two experiments in which the concentration of one reactant
changed while the concentration of the other reactant(s) did not
change.
2) Determine how the reaction rate changed in relation to the change
in reactant concentration.
3) Repeat this process using another set of data in which the
concentration of the first reactant did not change while the
concentration of the other one changed.
 EXAMPLE #1:
• Determine the rate law for the reaction A+B. The initial reaction rate
was measured for three different starting concentrations of A and B.
The following results were obtained:
Experiment [A](M) [B](M) Initial rate
No.: (M/s)
1 0.100 0.100
22 0.100
0.100 0.200
0.200
33 0.200
0.200 0.100
0.100
STEP 1: DETERMINE ALL THE GIVEN DATA AND
KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM WANTS US TO
FIND OUT
Experiment [A](M) [B](M) Initial rate
No.: (M/s)
1 0.100 0.100
22 0.100
0.100 0.200
0.200
33 0.200
0.200 0.100
0.100

FIND: The Rate Law

 STEP 2: FIND ‘n’
Experiment [A](M) [B](M) Initial rate
No.: (M/s)
1 0.100 0.100
22 0.100
0.100 0.200
0.200

  𝑛
  𝑚 𝑛 𝑟 2 [ 𝐵2 ]
𝑟= 𝑘 [ 𝐴 ] [ 𝐵 ] =
𝑟 1 [ 𝐵1 ] 𝑛
 STEP 3: FIND ‘m’
Experiment [A](M) [B](M) Initial rate
No.: (M/s)
1 0.100 0.100
3
3 0.200
0.200 0.100
0.100

  𝑚
  𝑚 𝑛 𝑟2 [ 𝐴 2 ]
𝑟= 𝑘 [ 𝐴 ] [ 𝐵 ] =
𝑟 1 [ 𝐴 1 ]𝑚
 STEP 4: SUBSTITUTE THE VALUES TO THE
RATE LAW FORMULA
•  

Thus, the reaction order of a is 2 and the reaction order of b is

1. And the overall reaction order is 3.
 EXAMPLE #2:
• Given the following experimental data, find the rate law and the rate
constant and the reaction order of the following:
Run Initial
Rate
1 0.10 0.10 0.10
2 0.20 0.10 0.10
3 0.10 0.20 0.10
4 0.10 0.10 0.20
  𝑚 − 𝑛
𝑟= 𝑘 [ 𝐵𝑟𝑂 3 − ] [ 𝐵𝑟 ] ¿¿
 RATE CONSTANT
• Have different unit depending on the overall reaction order of the
reaction
INTEGRATED RATE
LAW
 ZERO ORDER REACTIONS

• The rate is independent of the concentration of the reactant.

• Constant through out the reaction
• Equal to the rate constant.
 ZERO ORDER REACTIONS
••  The
concentration of a reactant at [A] = final concentration
zero order at any given time can be = initial concentration
obtained through the equation:
k = rate constant
t = time
 ZERO ORDER REACTIONS
••  HALF LIFE: the time it takes for = final concentration
an initial amount of a reactant to k = rate constant
be reduced to half
t = time
 EXAMPLE:

• The decomposition of ammonia on a tungsten (W) surface is zero-

order and has a rate constant of 0.75 M/s at 25oC.
2NH3 N2 + 3H2
How long (in seconds) will it take for the concentration of NH3 to
decrease from 0.12 to 0.040 M?
What is the half-life of the reaction if the initial concentration of
NH3 is 0.065 M?
 FIRST ORDER REACTIONS
•  

[A] = final concentration

= initial concentration
k = rate constant
t = time
 FIRST ORDER REACTIONS

•  
HALF-LIFE:

k = rate constant
 EXAMPLE:
• Sucrose (C12H22O11) inversion is the process by which the
substance is converted into either glucose or fructose (both have the
formula C6H12O6). The process results in optical inversion (mirror
image of structures). The reaction follows a first-order kinetics with a
rate constant of 3.6x10-3/s. if a 0.15 M C6H12O6 solution would
undergo inversion at 25oC, what is its concentration after 2.0
minutes? What is the half life of the reaction?
 SECOND ORDER REACTIONS

•  

[A] = final concentration

= initial concentration
k = rate constant
t = time
 SECOND ORDER REACTIONS

•  
HALF-LIFE:

k = rate constant
 EXAMPLE

• The isomerization of ammonium cyanate (NH4CNO) to urea follows

the second-order kinetics with a rate constant of 9.9 x 10 -4/Ms at
25oC. From the initial concentration of 0.24 M NH4CNO, how much
of it (in M) remains after 15 minutes? What is the half-life (in
minutes) of the reaction?
SEATWORK
• Find the rate law and rate constant
• At 575oC, nitrous oxide (N2O) decomposes into its elements on a
nickel surface. The reaction is zero-order with a rate constant of 0.42
M/s.
2N20 2N2 + O2
What will be the concentration of N2O after 5 minutes if its initial
concentration is 0.084 M?
What will be the half life of the reaction if the initial concentration
of N2O is 0.37M?
• The decomposition of N2O3 follows first-order kinetics. The rate
constant of the reaction at 25oC is 3.46x10-3/s. How long (in
seconds) would it take for an initial concentration of 0.050M to
decrease to 0.015 M? What is the half-life of the reaction?
 EXAMPLE:
• Hydrogen iodide (HI) has decomposes into gaseous hydrogen and
iodine following the second-order kinetics with a rate constant of
0.031/Ms at 400oC. What is the half-life of the reaction if the initial
concentration of HI is 0.045 M? Will the half-life be different if the
initial concentration is 0.025 M? Justify your answer.
• How much HI (in M) remains after 5 mins if the reaction started with
0.024 M HI?
• How many minutes will it take for the concentration of HI to
decrease from 0.045 M to 0.015 M?