## Convention of the Negative Sign [ENDORSED]

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

Magdalena Palavecino 1A
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Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 6:04 am

### Convention of the Negative Sign

I understand why in class we were told that since the concentration of the reactants decreases, then a negative sign is placed in front of the equation so that the resulting answer is positive. However, why not keep it in order to have it be an indicator that the species is in fact a reactant? If the rate were kept negative then we would immediately identify that its concentration would be decreasing over time.

Chem_Mod
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### Re: Convention of the Negative Sign  [ENDORSED]

Then one would not be able to write equations relating change in reactant concentration to change in product concentration.

As I discussed in class the equality sign would not be valid as the reactant side would have a negative value and the product side of the equation a positive value.