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13: Kinetic Methods

  • Page ID
    3478
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    There are many ways to categorize analytical techniques, several of which we introduced in earlier chapters. In Chapter 3 we classified techniques by whether the signal is proportional to the absolute amount or the relative amount of analyte. For example, precipitation gravimetry is a total analysis technique because the precipitate’s mass is proportional to the absolute amount, or moles, of analyte. UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, on the other hand, is a concentration technique because absorbance is proportional to the relative amount, or concentration, of analyte.

    A second method for classifying analytical techniques is to consider the source of the analytical signal. For example, gravimetry encompasses all techniques in which the analytical signal is a measurement of mass or a change in mass. Spectroscopy, on the other hand, includes those techniques in which we probe a sample with an energetic particle, such as the absorption of a photon. This is the classification scheme used in organizing Chapters 8–11.

    Another way to classify analytical techniques is by whether the analyte’s concentration is determined by an equilibrium reaction or by the kinetics of a chemical reaction or a physical process. The analytical methods described in Chapter 8–11 mostly involve measurements made on systems in which the analyte is always at equilibrium. In this chapter we turn our attention to measurements made under non-equilibrium conditions.

      Thumbnail: Determination of a reaction’s intermediate rate from the slope of a line tangent to a curve showing the change in the analyte’s concentration as a function of time.


      This page titled 13: Kinetic Methods is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David Harvey.

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