What does the rate law tell us about a chemical reaction, and how is it determined?

Answer 1

The rate law has to be determined experimentally and as the previous tutor said it cannot be determined form the balanced equation. The rate law will tell you how big of an impact each reactant has on the rate itself. The larger the exponent, the great the impact.

Answer 2

The rate law expresses how the rate of a reaction depends on the concentration of reactants.

For example, for a reaction:

A + B → C

The rate law might be:

Rate = k[A]^m[B]ⁿ

where k is the rate constant, and m and n are the reaction orders with respect to A and B. These values are determined experimentally, not from the balanced equation. The rate law helps us understand how changing the concentration of each reactant affects the reaction speed.