## Difference between equilibrium constant and rate constant

$aR \to bP, Rate = -\frac{1}{a} \frac{d[R]}{dt} = \frac{1}{b}\frac{d[P]}{dt}$

emilyharland
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2016 3:00 am

### Difference between equilibrium constant and rate constant

What is the difference between these two constants and what are they each describing in a reaction?

Swati_Sharma_2D
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:59 pm

### Re: Difference between equilibrium constant and rate constant

The equilibrium constant, K eq is the ratio of the equilibrium concentrations of the products over the equilibrium concentrations of the reactants. This is if you are given a chemical equation and the concentrations could be in molars or sometimes in partial pressures.

The rate constant, k, is used in kinetics when describing the rate of a reaction. The general formula is Rate = k times the concentrations of the reactants of the slow step (not including intermediates). It depends on temperature.

Overall, they both utilize molar concentrations but stand for very different things.