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.
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Key terms in this lesson
- rate equation
- An equation that shows how the rate of a reaction depends on the concentration of each reactant, each raised to a power called its order.
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 OCR A-level Chemistry topics