Instantaneous rate

[WYacob_2C]

Are we supposed to use the instantaneous rates when looking at the rates of reactants and products? If so, why?

[chemboi]

In general, I think Dr. Lavelle said so. If another commenter could clarify, that would be great!

[Kyle Rex 1K]

i think so because there are much more applications with the instantaneous rate law, such as differential rate law, integrated rate law, and for things like finding the half life of species and such

[LNgo 1G]

We also learned how to calculate average rate of reaction. When would we use that equation rather than the instantaneous rate?

[Ellen Amico 2L]

Yes! They're more useful than average rates since they give us the concentration at any particular point in time (this is expressed as the derivative). From the instantaneous rates, we can derive differential rate laws, integrated rate laws, etc. since they're all based on the derivatives.