Chemistry / Unit 9 Chem 1641 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Stoichiometric-Coefficient Misreading of a Rate Law
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The idea
Copying a balanced equation's coefficients into a rate law's exponents is an error, since only an elementary step works that way.
In practice
Writing rate = k[NO2][CO] for NO2 + CO → NO + CO2 from the coefficients alone contradicts the second-order-in-NO2 law measured below 225 °C.
Where people slip
This shortcut fails for most reactions, which proceed through elementary steps an overall equation cannot reveal.
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