First-order Reactions
See also: Order of reactionA first-order reaction depends on the concentration of only one reactant (a unimolecular reaction). Other reactants can be present, but each will be zero-order. The rate law for an elementary reaction that is first order with respect to a reactant A is
k is the first order rate constant, which has units of 1/s.
The integrated first-order rate law is
A plot of vs. time t gives a straight line with a slope of .
The half-life of a first-order reaction is independent of the starting concentration and is given by .
Examples of reactions that are first-order with respect to the reactant:
Read more about this topic: Rate Equation
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