Order of a Reaction

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The order of reaction is determined with respect to each reactant in the reaction. The order of a reaction is the power to which the concentration of a reactant is raised. This is the order with respect to one reactant only. For the reaction

where there are more than one reactants, the order of the reaction is determined with A and then with B. As mentioned earlier in equation the rate law which is expressed as rate (r) = k [A]^m [B]ⁿ, the exponent 'm' denotes the order of the reaction with respect to reactant A and the exponent 'n' denotes the order of the reaction with respect to B. The overall order of the reaction is then (m + n). It should be noted that 'm' and 'n' do not necessarily represent the stoichiometric coefficients 'a' and 'b' of the reaction. Order of a reaction is experimentally determined.

Order of a reaction need not have a integral value. It can be a fraction and negative too (reactions with negative order will not be discussed here). Various reactions display different orders. A few examples are listed.