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Chemistry vocabulary · Energy, Reaction Rates and Equilibrium

Reaction rate

Meaning in chemistry, with examples

nounCore term

In chemistry, reaction rate means: How fast reactants are used up or products are formed, usually measured as a change in concentration per unit time, for example in mol/L per second.

In Turkish: tepkime hızı, reaksiyon hızı

How it is used

Used in kinetics and when planning experiments. Temperature, concentration, surface area and catalysts increase or decrease the reaction rate. You measure, follow or compare rates; 'rate of reaction' is also common.

Example sentences

  1. Raising the temperature by 10 °C roughly doubled the reaction rate.

  2. We followed the reaction rate by measuring the volume of gas every minute.

Common collocations

  • increase the reaction rate
  • rate of reaction
  • initial rate
  • rate constant
  • rate law
  • activation energyThe minimum energy that reacting particles need to collide successfully and start a reaction. Catalysts work by lowering it.
  • catalystA substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being used up. It works by offering a different pathway with a lower activation energy.
  • concentrationThe amount of a substance in a given volume of solution or mixture, for example in moles per liter (mol/L), grams per liter or parts per million (ppm).
  • chemical reactionA process in which substances change into new substances with different properties, as bonds between atoms break and new bonds form.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Energy, Reaction Rates and Equilibrium

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