Formal Kinetics of Single Homogenous Reactions

Experimentally it was observed that the reaction rate depends on the concentrations of the reacting species and temperature. Very often a simple Power Rate Law (PRL) can be applied to describe this dependency. For the single irreversible reaction Aj -F Ag - products, the following equation results  

The exponents in Equation 2.10 are called the reaction orders. The reaction is Wj order with respect to reactant Aj and Wg with respect to Ag- The overall reaction order is given by  

The decomposition of NgOj in the gas phase is the example of a formal first order reaction [2]  

An example for second order reactions is the formation of HI from hydrogen and iodine [2] 

In general, formal kinetic equations are empirical, valid only within a limited domain of concentrations and temperatures. 

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