How does the rate of reaction change when reactants mix?

1 Answer
Jul 15, 2014

For a reaction whose rate is first-order in each of two reactants (second-order overall), then during the mixing process the rate will be an integral of local rates based on local concentrations throughout the entire mixture.

When the two reactants are unmixed, the rate is zero, and when they are completely mixed, the rate is a maximum, so during the mixing process the overall rate will be somewhere in between.