CBSE Class 12 Chemistry – Chemical Kinetics

Chapter Overview

The chapter 'Chemical Kinetics' focuses on the study of the rate of chemical reactions and the factors affecting them. It introduces the concepts of average and instantaneous rate, rate law, order and molecularity of reactions, and half-life. The chapter explains the Arrhenius equation, activation energy, and collision theory to understand the mechanism of reactions. It also emphasizes solving numerical problems related to first and second-order reactions.

Important Keywords

• Rate of Reaction: Change in concentration of reactants/products per unit time.
• Rate Law: An expression that relates the rate of a reaction to the concentration of reactants.
• Order of Reaction: The sum of powers of concentration terms in the rate law.
• Molecularity: Number of molecules involved in the elementary step of a reaction.
• Half-life (t½): Time required to reduce the concentration of a reactant to half.
• First-order Reaction: Reaction whose rate depends on the concentration of one reactant.
• Zero-order Reaction: Rate is independent of the concentration of reactant.
• Arrhenius Equation: k = Ae^(-Ea/RT), shows the effect of temperature on rate constant.
• Activation Energy (Ea): Minimum energy required for a reaction to occur.
• Collision Theory: Explains rate of reaction based on effective collisions.