Skip to main content
Library homepage
 

Text Color

Text Size

 

Margin Size

 

Font Type

Enable Dyslexic Font
Chemistry LibreTexts

14.S: Chemical Kinetics (Summary)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

Template:HideTOC

These is a summary of key concepts of the chapter in the Textmap created for "Chemistry: The Central Science" by Brown et al.

14.1: Factors that Affect Reaction Rates

chemical kinetics – area of chemistry dealing with speeds/rates of reactions

  • rates of reactions affected by four factors
    1. concentrations of reactants
    2. temperature at which reaction occurs
    3. presence of a catalyst
    4. surface area of solid or liquid reactants and/or catalysts

14.2: Reaction Rates

  • reaction rate – speed of a chemical reaction

14.1.1 Rates in Terms of Concentrations

  • rate calculated in units of M/s
  • brackets around a substance indicate the concentration
  • instantaneous rate – rate at a particular time
  • instantaneous rate obtained from the straight line tangent that touches the curve at a specific point
  • slopes give instantaneous rates
  • instantaneous rate also referred to as the rate

14.1.2 Reaction Rates and Stoichiometry

  • for the reaction

14.3: Concentration and Rate

  • equation used only if C and D only substances formed
  • Rate = k[A][B]
  • Rate law – expression that shows that rate depends on concentrations of reactants
  • K = rate constant

14.2.1 Reaction Order

  • Rate = k[reactant 1]m[reactant 2]n
  • m, n are called reaction orders
  • m+n, overall reaction order
  • reaction orders do not have to correspond with coefficients in balanced equation
  • values of reaction order determined experimentally
  • reaction order can be fractional or negative

14.2.2 Units of Rates Constants

  • units of rate constant depend on overall reaction order of rate law
  • for reaction of second order overall
  • units of rate = (units of rate constant)(units of concentration)2
  • units of rate constant = M-1s1

14.2.3 Using Initial Rates to Determine Rate Laws

  • zero order – no change in rate when concentration changed
  • first order – proportional changes in rate
  • second order – increase rate by 22 or 33, etc…
  • rate constant does not depend on concentration

14.4: The Change of Concentration with Time

  • rate laws can be converted into equations that give concentrations of reactants or products

14.3.1 First-Order Reactions

  • corresponds to y = mx + b
  • equations used to determine:
  • 1) concentration of reactant remaining at any time
  • 2) time required for given fraction of sample to react
  • 3) time required for reactant concentration to reach a certain level

14.3.2 Half-Life

  • half-life of first order reaction
  • half-life – time required for concentration of reactant to drop by one half initial value
  • t1/2 of first order independent of initial concentrations
  • half-life same at any given time of reaction
  • in first order reaction – concentrations of reactant decreases by ½ in each series of regularly spaced time intervals

14.3.3 Second-Order Reactions

  • rate depends on reactant concentration raised to second power or concentrations of two different reactant each raised to first power
  • Rate = k[A]2
  • half life dependent on initial concentration of reactant

14.5: Temperature and Rate

  • chemiluminescent reaction – reaction that produces light
  • rate constant must increase with increasing temperature

14.4.1 The Collision Model

  • collision model – molecules must collide to react
  • greater number of collisions the greater the reaction rate
  • for most reactions only small amount of collisions lead to a reaction

14.4.2 Activation Energy

  • Svante Arrhenius
  • Molecules must have a minimum amount of energy to react
  • Energy comes from kinetic energy of collisions
  • Kinetic energy used to break bonds
  • Activation energy, Ea – minimum energy required to initiate a chemical reaction
  • Activated complex or transition state – atoms at the top of the energy barrier
  • Rate depends on Ea
  • Lower Ea means faster reaction
  • Reactions occur with collisions and orientation of molecules

14.4.3 The Arrhenius Equation

  • reaction rate data:
  • (Arrhenius Equation)
  • k = rate constant, Ea = activation energy, R = gas constant (8.314 J/mol K), T = absolute temperature, A = frequency factor
  • A relates to frequency of collisions, favorable orientations
  • ln k vs 1/t graph has slope –Ea/R and y-intercept ln A
  • for two temperatures:
  • used to calculate rate constant, k1 and T1

14.6: Reaction Mechanisms

  • reaction mechanism – process by which a reaction occurs

14.5.1 Elementary Steps

  • elementary steps – each step in a reaction
  • molecularity – if only one molecule involved in step
  • unimolecular – if only one molecule involved in step
  • bimolecular – elementary step involving collision of two reactant molecules
  • termolecular – elementary step involving simultaneous collision of three molecules
  • elementary steps in multistep mechanism must always add to give chemical equation of overall process
  • intermediate – product formed in one step and consumed in a later step

14.5.2 Rate Laws of Elementary Steps

  • if reaction is known to be an elementary step then the rate law is known
  • rate of unimolecular step is first order (Rate = k[A])
  • rate of bimolecular steps is second order (Rate = k[A][B]
  • first order in [A] and [B]
  • if double [A] than number of collisions of A and B will double

14.5.3 Rate laws of multistep mechanisms

  • rate-determining step – slowest elementary step
  • determines rate law of overall reaction

14.5.4 Mechanisms with an Initial First Step

  • intermediates usually unstable, low and unknown concentrations
  • whenever a fast step precedes a slow one, solve for concentration of intermediate by assuming that equilibrium is established in fast step

14.7: Catalysis

  • catalyst – substance that changes speed of chemical reaction without undergoing a permanent chemical change

14.6.1 Homogeneous Catalysis

  • homogeneous catalyst – catalyst that is present in same phase as reacting molecule
  • catalysts alter Ea or A
  • generally catalysts lowers overall Ea for chemical reaction
  • catalysts provides a different mechanism for reaction

14.6.2 Heterogeneous Catalysis

  • exists in different phase from reactants
  • initial step in heterogeneous catalyst is adsorption
  • adsorption – binding of molecules to surface
  • adsorption occurs because ions/atoms at surface of solid extremely reactive

14.6.3 Enzymes

  • biological catalysts
  • large protein molecules with molecular weights 10,000 – 1 million amu
  • catalase – enzyme in blood and liver that decomposes hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen
  • substrates – substances that undergo reaction at the active site
  • lock-and-key model – substrate molecules bind specifically to the active site
  • enzyme-substrate complex – combination of enzyme and substrate
  • binding between enzyme and substrate involves intermolecular forces (dipole-dipole, hydrogen bonding, and London dispersion forces)
  • product from reaction leaves enzyme allowing for another substrate to enter enzyme
  • enzyme inhibitors – molecules that bind strongly to enzymes
  • turnover number – number of catalyzed reactions occurring at a particular active site
  • large turnover numbers = low activation energies

14.S: Chemical Kinetics (Summary) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

  • Was this article helpful?

Support Center

How can we help?