Part III: Chemical Kinetics
While thermodynamics tells us whether a reaction can occur, kinetics tells us how fast it proceeds. From empirical rate laws to microscopic transition state theory, kinetics bridges the gap between equilibrium predictions and real-world reaction timescales.
Part Overview
Chemical kinetics studies the rates at which reactions occur and the molecular mechanisms that drive them. We begin with macroscopic rate laws (zeroth, first, and second order), then explore how complex mechanisms are built from elementary steps, and finally derive microscopic rate constants from transition state theory and the Eyring equation.
Key Topics
- • Zeroth, first, and second order integrated rate laws
- • Half-life expressions and the method of initial rates
- • Steady-state approximation and pre-equilibrium methods
- • Lindemann mechanism and chain reactions
- • Eyring equation, Arrhenius law, and potential energy surfaces
3 chapters | Rate Laws, Mechanisms, and Transition State Theory | Dynamics of chemical change
Chapters
Chapter 7: Rate Laws
Zeroth, first, and second order integrated rate laws, half-life expressions, the method of initial rates, and determination of reaction order from experimental data.
Chapter 8: Reaction Mechanisms
Elementary steps and molecularity, the steady-state approximation, pre-equilibrium, the Lindemann mechanism for unimolecular reactions, and chain reaction kinetics.
Chapter 9: Transition State Theory
The Eyring equation $k = (k_B T / h) \exp(-\Delta G^\ddagger / RT)$, activation energy, the Arrhenius equation, and potential energy surfaces.