{"id":231652,"date":"2025-06-11T09:31:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T09:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=231652"},"modified":"2025-06-11T09:31:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T09:31:49","slug":"derive-the-rate-law-equation-for-a-third-order-reaction-a2b%e2%86%92p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/11\/derive-the-rate-law-equation-for-a-third-order-reaction-a2b%e2%86%92p\/","title":{"rendered":"Derive the rate law equation for a third-order reaction A+2B\u2192P."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Derive the rate law equation for a third-order reaction A+2B\u2192P. Express the integrated rate law in concentration terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rate Law and Integrated Rate Law for a Third-Order Reaction: A + 2B \u2192 P<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rate Law (Differential Form):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the reaction:A+2B\u2192PA + 2B \\rightarrow PA+2B\u2192P<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The overall reaction is <strong>third-order<\/strong> (first-order in A and second-order in B). The rate law is expressed as:Rate=\u2212d[A]dt=k[A][B]2\\text{Rate} = -\\frac{d[A]}{dt} = k[A][B]^2Rate=\u2212dtd[A]\u200b=k[A][B]2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Integrated Rate Law (in terms of concentration):<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To derive the integrated rate law, we must account for the stoichiometry. Let:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>[A]0[A]_0[A]0\u200b and [B]0[B]_0[B]0\u200b be the initial concentrations of A and B, respectively.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Let xxx be the amount of A reacted at time ttt. Then, the change in concentration of A is [A]0\u2212x[A]_0 &#8211; x[A]0\u200b\u2212x, and since 2 moles of B react with 1 mole of A, the concentration of B is [B]0\u22122x[B]_0 &#8211; 2x[B]0\u200b\u22122x.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Substituting into the rate law:dxdt=k([A]0\u2212x)([B]0\u22122x)2\\frac{dx}{dt} = k([A]_0 &#8211; x)([B]_0 &#8211; 2x)^2dtdx\u200b=k([A]0\u200b\u2212x)([B]0\u200b\u22122x)2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a complex differential equation and typically cannot be integrated analytically in a simple form unless specific assumptions are made. However, if <strong>[B]_0 \u226b [A]_0<\/strong>, then [B] remains approximately constant during the reaction. This is known as the <strong>pseudo-first-order approximation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under this approximation:Rate=k\u2032[A],where&nbsp;k\u2032=k[B]2\\text{Rate} = k'[A], \\quad \\text{where } k&#8217; = k[B]^2Rate=k\u2032[A],where&nbsp;k\u2032=k[B]2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Integrating:d[A][A]=\u2212k\u2032[B]2dt\u21d2ln\u2061[A]=\u2212k[B]2t+ln\u2061[A]0\u21d2[A]=[A]0e\u2212k[B]2t\\frac{d[A]}{[A]} = -k'[B]^2 dt \\Rightarrow \\ln[A] = -k[B]^2t + \\ln[A]_0 \\Rightarrow [A] = [A]_0 e^{-k[B]^2t}[A]d[A]\u200b=\u2212k\u2032[B]2dt\u21d2ln[A]=\u2212k[B]2t+ln[A]0\u200b\u21d2[A]=[A]0\u200be\u2212k[B]2t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is valid under pseudo-first-order conditions only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Full Explanation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In chemical kinetics, the <strong>rate law<\/strong> expresses the speed of a reaction as a function of the concentrations of reactants. For a reaction A+2B\u2192PA + 2B \\rightarrow PA+2B\u2192P, it is third-order overall: first-order in A and second-order in B. The rate law is written as:Rate=\u2212d[A]dt=k[A][B]2\\text{Rate} = -\\frac{d[A]}{dt} = k[A][B]^2Rate=\u2212dtd[A]\u200b=k[A][B]2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, kkk is the rate constant, and the exponents correspond to the reaction order with respect to each reactant. The negative sign indicates that the concentration of A decreases over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To determine the <strong>integrated rate law<\/strong>, which relates concentrations to time, we consider the stoichiometric relationship between the reactants. If xxx is the amount of A reacted at time ttt, then [A]=[A]0\u2212x[A] = [A]_0 &#8211; x[A]=[A]0\u200b\u2212x, and [B]=[B]0\u22122x[B] = [B]_0 &#8211; 2x[B]=[B]0\u200b\u22122x, because two moles of B react per mole of A. Substituting these into the rate law yields:dxdt=k([A]0\u2212x)([B]0\u22122x)2\\frac{dx}{dt} = k([A]_0 &#8211; x)([B]_0 &#8211; 2x)^2dtdx\u200b=k([A]0\u200b\u2212x)([B]0\u200b\u22122x)2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This equation is not easily integrable in closed form and often requires numerical methods or simplifying assumptions. A common simplification is the <strong>pseudo-first-order approximation<\/strong>, applied when [B]_0 is much larger than [A]_0. In this case, [B] remains nearly constant during the reaction, and the rate law simplifies to:Rate=k\u2032[A],with&nbsp;k\u2032=k[B]2\\text{Rate} = k&#8217; [A], \\quad \\text{with } k&#8217; = k[B]^2Rate=k\u2032[A],with&nbsp;k\u2032=k[B]2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This results in a first-order integrated rate law:[A]=[A]0e\u2212k[B]2t[A] = [A]_0 e^{-k[B]^2 t}[A]=[A]0\u200be\u2212k[B]2t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This exponential decay equation describes how [A] decreases over time in such conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner4-939.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-231653\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Derive the rate law equation for a third-order reaction A+2B\u2192P. Express the integrated rate law in concentration terms. The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Rate Law and Integrated Rate Law for a Third-Order Reaction: A + 2B \u2192 P Rate Law (Differential Form): For the reaction:A+2B\u2192PA + 2B \\rightarrow PA+2B\u2192P The overall reaction is third-order [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}