Pseudo Reaction Orders

[Michael Iter 2F]

I still don't really understand how the pseudo reaction order stuff works, can anyone explain it to me?

[Faaizah Arshad 1H]

The purpose of a pseudo first order reaction is to help you analyze the rate law of a reaction that depends on the concentration of more than one reactant species.

The way it works is that you increase the concentration of one of the reactant species to be so high that any changes in its concentration are basically negligible. This means that its concentration remains relatively constant throughout the reaction. You can then write the rate law with that reactant species as a constant, so the second order reaction is basically a first order reaction now. It is then easier to analyze how to concentration of another species changes.

[Marilyn]

By assuming the reaction is at equilibrium we can look at the equilibrium states of the transition reactions.