CHE 132 Lecture 3: Chapter 16 Kinetics

• School: Stony Brook University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHE 132
• Professor: Elizabeth Boon

Document Summary

Chapter 16: kinetics-rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions. Chemical kinetics- the study of how fast reactants change into products. Reaction rate- the change in the concentrations of reactants (or products) as a function of time. In a faster reaction (higher rate), the reactant concentration decreases quickly, whereas in a slower reaction (lower rate), it decreases slowly. Rate is determined by the nature of the reactants. At room temperature, for example, hydrogen reacts explosively with fluorine but extremely slowly with nitrogen. Four factors that affect rate: the concentrations of reactants, their physical state, the temperature of the reaction, and the use of a catalyst. Concentration affects rate by influencing the frequency of collisions between reactant molecules. The more molecules present, the more frequently they collide, and the more often they react. Reaction rate is proportional to the number of collisions, which depends on the concentration of reactants. Physical state affects rate by determining how well reactants can mix.