Determining slow step

[claire ikemiya_2I]

How do you guys go a out determining the speed when given various mechanisms.

[abby hyman]

I think if we were given it on the test they would have to tell you which is the slow step.

If that is not the case then, if you know the overall rate law, you can find the rate law for each step in the mechanism and determine which is the slow step because it will match the overall.
Sometimes we are required to do the equilibrium approach then to substitute for the intermediate if there is one.

[Kyle Walsh 2J]

Hi! In all of the examples given in the textbook, I believe that it was identified for us, but it can also be found manually if you have the overall rate law of the reaction. In that case, you'd just have to calculate the rate laws of each step individually and then see which one matches up. Hope this helps!

[Britney Tran IJ]

generally the question will tell us but you can also determine the rate law for each step to see which one is the slowest

[Jeremy Wei 2C]

I think normally they would tell you the slow step, but if not you can calculate each step's reaction rate and compare to determine the slow step and its rate.

[Rachael Cohen 3G]

I think for the sake of this class they will always tell us which step is the slow step.