m and n

[Matthew Casillas 1C]

In lecture what does the power to "m" and "n" represent? I'm a little confused about what overall reaction order is.

[Dayna Pham 1I]

Hi! Hope this helps!

[Joon Chang 2F]

Order of reaction is the power a concentration of something is raised to in the rate law (rate law is the equation for instantaneous reaction rate at certain concentration).
Overall reaction order is the sum of the powers of the concentrations in the rate law.
The variables "n" and "m" used in the lecture are the orders of reaction for the corresponding reactants.
The most common orders are 0 (the rate of reaction is independent of concentration), 1 (the rate is directly proportional to the concentration), and 2 (rate is proportional to the square of the concentration).