[miaou5]

I know that the "initial reaction rate" for calculating rate laws can only be determined experimentally, but I'm a bit confused...what is it measuring exactly? It's given as moles/L per sec, but moles/L of...what? Products being formed? (E.g., if I had a reaction going, what exactly would I measure to find the initial reaction rate?)

Sorry for starting more than a single post in one day, but I'm in a bit of a time crunch for my med tests. Thanks again in advance!

[gnahzmx]

It can measure either the product formation or starting material disappearance. The unit should be mol/L per time unit.

[juanrga]

I know that the "initial reaction rate" for calculating rate laws can only be determined experimentally, but I'm a bit confused...what is it measuring exactly? It's given as moles/L per sec, but moles/L of...what? Products being formed? (E.g., if I had a reaction going, what exactly would I measure to find the initial reaction rate?)

Sorry for starting more than a single post in one day, but I'm in a bit of a time crunch for my med tests. Thanks again in advance!

Reaction rate measures the change in concentration of reactants and products with time. L is not a SI unit. The units usually are mol dm^-3 s^-1. The initial reaction rate is just the rate at the beginning of the reaction (i.e., when t=0).

The initial rate can be determined theoretically if you have the rate law. I think that you are referring to the experimental method named «Method of Initial Rates», which is used for determining the rate law of some reaction.