particles collide
⏱️ACS GENERAL CHEMISTRY STUDY GUIDE
Chemical Kinetics for the ACS Exam
Review rate laws, reaction order, integrated laws, half-time, Arrhenius plots, mechanisms, and catalysts.
8 key ideas8 flashcards5 practice questions
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Reaction needs contact, orientation, and enough energy.
reactive sites face correctly
collision reaches the barrier
Key ideas to know
Start with the relationships between ideas. Then close the notes and explain each one from memory.
- 01
Reaction rate measures concentration movement per unit time.
- 02
A differential rate law is found from experiment unless a step is known to be elementary.
- 03
Reaction order is the exponent on a concentration term in the measured rate law.
- 04
Integrated rate laws connect concentration with time for a stated reaction order.
- 05
A first-order reaction has a constant half-time independent of starting concentration.
- 06
The Arrhenius equation connects rate constant, activation energy, and temperature.
- 07
A mechanism must sum to the overall reaction and reproduce the observed rate law.
- 08
A catalyst supplies a lower-activation-energy path and speeds forward and reverse reactions.
PART OF THE ACS GENERAL CHEMISTRY GUIDE
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Open the full ACS General Chemistry guide →Two ideas worth correcting now
NOT QUITE
→Every collision produces reaction
USE THIS INSTEAD
Particles need suitable orientation and enough energy.
NOT QUITE
→A catalyst makes products thermodynamically favored
USE THIS INSTEAD
It alters the path, not ΔG° or K.
Flashcards
Answer before opening each card. The effort to retrieve is part of the learning.
1Can coefficients in an overall equation supply a rate law?Show answer ＋
No, unless the reaction is a single elementary step.
2What are the units of a first-order rate constant?Show answer ＋
Inverse time.
3Which plot is linear for a first-order reaction?Show answer ＋
Natural log of concentration versus time.
4What is the slope of a first-order integrated plot?Show answer ＋
Negative k.
5What is a reaction intermediate?Show answer ＋
A species formed in one step and consumed in a later step.
6What is a catalyst?Show answer ＋
A species used and regenerated during a faster reaction path.
7How does higher temperature usually affect k?Show answer ＋
It raises k by increasing the fraction of collisions above activation energy.
8Does a catalyst alter the equilibrium constant?Show answer ＋
No. It speeds arrival at equilibrium without moving its position.
Explain it in your own words
Use the answer as a check after you have written or spoken your response.
01If doubling A quadruples rate, what is the order in A?
Second order, because 2 to the exponent equals 4.
02How can initial-rate data isolate one reactant's order?
Compare trials where that reactant varies while all other measured concentrations stay fixed.
03Why is a first-order half-time constant?
The integrated law gives t one-half = ln 2 divided by k, with no starting concentration term.
04How does an Arrhenius plot yield activation energy?
Plot ln k against 1/T; the slope equals negative activation energy divided by R.
05Why must a proposed mechanism match both equation and rate law?
A mechanism must account for stoichiometry and measured kinetic behavior.
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