## Significance of the order of a reaction?

$\frac{d[R]}{dt}=-k[R]; \ln [R]=-kt + \ln [R]_{0}; t_{\frac{1}{2}}=\frac{0.693}{k}$

Ryan Fang 1D
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:00 am

### Significance of the order of a reaction?

What does the order of a reaction tell us about the reaction?

Rachel Formaker 1E
Posts: 86
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:04 am
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### Re: Significance of the order of a reaction?

The order of a reaction tells us how the rate of reaction is affected by the concentration of the reactants.

For a zero-order reaction, the rate of reaction is independent of the concentration of reactants, so changing the reactant concentration will have no effect on the reaction rate.

For a first-order reaction, the rate of reaction is directly proportional to the concentration of reactants, so doubling the reactant concentration doubles the reaction rate.

For a second-order reaction, the rate of reaction is proportional to the square of the concentration of reactants, so doubling the reactant concentration quadruples the reaction rate.