Question 3 Achieve Week 9/10

[705960769]

Can someone please explain why on question 3 the instantaneous isn't negative? On the graph, it is decreasing and when I did rise over run the answer was negative.

[506255709]

When you calculate the slope the answer will be negative but according to the achieve hw it says that this is the value of the rate of change for the reactant which will be negative. However, we want the rate of the reaction so it should be expressed as a positive value. I also was confused and still am a bit confused since this is a pretty confusing rule so I am in the same boat as you. :(

[Jaelyn Christian 2J]

When I solved it it wasn't negative. If you do deltaP/deltat the equation would be (Pfinal-Pinitial)/(Tfinal-Tinitial). When you use that equation the answer doesn't come out as a negative.

[606165242]

Hello! When you use the slope formula with rise/run, indeed we get a negative value. It is the rate at which the reactant, A, is decreasing. However, the question isn't asking for the rate at which A is being consumed, but rather the rate of the overall reaction, and that is the important distinction to make here. The reaction is proceeding, and according to the stoichiometric coefficients, it appears that products are bring formed at an equal rate. Therefore, the rate of the reaction should be positive. I hope this helped!