BRAINCAKEThe Rate Determining Step
Chemical reactions often take place in a series of steps called the reaction mechanism. In a multi-step reaction, the slowest step is called the rate-determining step. The reaction cannot go faster than the rate-determining step. If the concentration of a reactant appears in the rate equation, then the reactant or something derived from it takes part in the slow step of the reaction. Nitrogen dioxide reacts with carbon monoxide to form nitrogen monoxide and carbon dioxide.
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More in Rate of Reaction
- Experimental Determination of the Rate of Reaction
- The Rate Equation
- The Order of a Reaction
- The Rate Constant k
- Worked Example
- Half-Lives and Reaction Rate Graphs
- Catalysts
- The Effect of Temperature and Catalysts on the Rate Constant.
All 11 lessons in Rate of Reaction · All AQA A-level Chemistry topics