Reaction order

[006248274]

I'm confused on how to calculate reaction order. Why does increasing the reactants by 2 mols increase the rate by a square, what is the reason behind the derivation of that equation? How can you identify the order based on graphs (linear vs. exponential) specifically with first order reactions?

[Stephanie_manasyan]

Hi! First order reactions have a negative slope (slope=-k) and have unique units. To determine the overall order, you add together all of the orders of each reactant. To calculate each reactant order, you must use a table/data and compare how increasing concentration affects the rate between two experiments and observe if it causes it to increase or stay the same. If it doubles, this would be a first order reaction because it's 2^X and X=2. Hope this helps!

[Ariana 1D]

First order reactions will be linear when you plot ln[A] against time with a negative slope that decreases over time.