Thread of life

Question 1

Explain the rate of reaction

Answer 1

Rate of reaction is the change of concentration of reactant or product over the time taken

Question 2

What is the rate constant

Answer 2

The rate constant, K, is a specific value for every reaction, which is used to calculate the rate of reaction

Question 3

Explain the order of reaction with respect to a reagent

Answer 3

In the rate equation, the order in respect to the reagent is the power which the reagent is raised to. First order doubles the concentration, whereas second order quadruples the concentration

Question 4

State a generalised rate equation

Answer 4

rate = k [A]^n [B]^m

Question 5

Explain the overall order of reaction

Answer 5

The overall order of reaction is equal to the sum of the order of reaction of the reagents

Question 6

Define a half life, and explain how to calculate this value from a concentration/time graph

Answer 6

A half life is the time taken for a radioactive substance to decay by half. On a concentration/time graph, by drawing lines on the graph at the half of the concentration and identifying the time taken to reach this value.

Question 7

Define the rate determining step

Answer 7

The slowest step in a reaction, determine the rate of reaction. For this to occur there needs to be two reactions happening in the overall reaction, thus there is an intermediate step