Reaction Theory
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General Chemistry 1
Summary
The content provides an in-depth exploration of reaction orders in chemistry, focusing on zeroth, first, second, and mixed order reactions, their rate laws, units of rate constants, and graphical representations.
- Zeroth order reactions have a rate that is independent of the concentration of reactants, with rate constants having units of molarity per second.
- First order reactions depend linearly on the concentration of one reactant, with rate constants in units of 1/seconds, and are exemplified by radioactive decay processes.
- Second order reactions can involve one reactant squared or two reactants each to the first power, with rate constants in units of 1/(molarity*seconds).
- Mixed order reactions feature non-integer reaction orders, with complex rate laws and units for the rate constant that ensure the rate is expressed as molarity per second.
- Graphical representations of reaction orders provide visual methods to determine the order of a reaction, with zeroth and first orders producing straight lines in their respective plots, and second order reactions showing a positive slope when plotting 1/concentration vs. time.
Chapters
00:00
Zeroth Order Reactions
01:10
First Order Reactions
02:51
Second Order Reactions
04:41
Mixed Order Reactions