Reaction rate
Speed at which a chemical reaction takes place / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The reaction rate or rate of reaction is the speed at which a chemical reaction takes place, defined as proportional to the increase in the concentration of a product per unit time and to the decrease in the concentration of a reactant per unit time.[1] Reaction rates can vary dramatically. For example, the oxidative rusting of iron under Earth's atmosphere is a slow reaction that can take many years, but the combustion of cellulose in a fire is a reaction that takes place in fractions of a second. For most reactions, the rate decreases as the reaction proceeds. A reaction's rate can be determined by measuring the changes in concentration over time.
Reaction rate | |
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Common symbols | ν |
SI unit | mol⋅L-1⋅s-1 |
In SI base units | mol⋅m-3⋅s-1 |
Dimension | L-3⋅T-1⋅N |
Chemical kinetics is the part of physical chemistry that concerns how rates of chemical reactions are measured and predicted, and how reaction-rate data can be used to deduce probable reaction mechanisms.[2] The concepts of chemical kinetics are applied in many disciplines, such as chemical engineering,[3][4] enzymology and environmental engineering.[5][6][7]