Units of a rate constant

Since the rate of a reaction is defined as:

rate=\frac{change\, in\, concentration\, of\, reactants\, or\, products}{change\, in\, time}

a unit of rate is mol dm-3 s-1. The units of a rate constant, however, depends on the rate law, e.g. the units of the rate constant with the rate law: rate=k[CH_3COOC_2H_5][OH^-] is:

mol\, dm^{-3}\, s^{-1}=[k](mol\, dm^{-3})(mol\, dm^{-3})

[k]=mol^{-1}\, dm^3\, s^{-1}

where [k] refers to the units of k.

 

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