I keep getting “Order of reaction” questions wrong in Chemical Kinetics. What's the trap?
reading the order off the balanced equation's coefficients.
The usual trap: reading the order off the balanced equation's coefficients. How to avoid it: order comes from experiment, not stoichiometry (unless the step is elementary). Go back to the definition — the power to which a reactant's concentration is raised in the experimentally-determined rate law.
Key point
Order of reaction
Common mistake
reading the order off the balanced equation's coefficients.
Memory tip
order comes from experiment, not stoichiometry (unless the step is elementary).
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