differential reaction rate

differential reaction rate

[‚dif·ə¦ren·chəl rē′ak·shən ‚rāt] (physical chemistry) The order of a chemical reaction expressed as a differential equation with respect to time; for example, dx/dt = k (a-x) for first order, dx/dt = k (a-x)(b-x) for second order, and so on, where k is the specific rate constant, a is the concentration of reactant A, b is the concentration of reactant B, and dx/dt is the rate of change in concentration for time t.