Cambridge O Level Chemistry · Syllabus 5070 · Chemical Reactions
Rate of Reaction
What is Rate of Reaction?
A measure of how quickly reactants are used up or products are formed, expressed as the change in a measurable quantity such as mass, gas volume or concentration divided by the time taken. It is found from the gradient of a graph of that quantity against time.
This definition is part of the Chemical Reactions chapter in Cambridge O Level Chemistry.
Questions students ask about Rate of Reaction
What is the difference between rate of reaction and position of equilibrium?
Rate measures how fast a reaction happens; position of equilibrium measures how far it goes. A catalyst is the clearest proof they are separate: it raises the rate by lowering the activation energy for both directions, but it never moves the position of equilibrium, because it speeds up the forward and reverse reactions by the same factor.