Half Life Flashcards
Half life is?
The time taken for half of a reactant (in concentration) to be used up
What graph do we use to find the half life?
Using a concentration time graph
How to find the half life on a concentration time graph
Choose 2 concentrations on the y axis: one at half of the other eg 8 and 4
Interpolate from the graph to find the time at each concentration
This time difference (time taken for concentration to halve) will be the half life
Half life of a 1 order concentration-Time graph
Half life will be the same no matter the concentration
Because the concentration is proportional to the time (because it’s proportional to rate of reaction)
Half life of a 1 order reaction
Independent of changing the concentration of a 1 order reactant
Why is half life useful?
Cos then we can identify a 1 order reactant with a concentration time graph without having to draw a rate concentration graph for it
