Question

Explain the term instantaneous rate of a reaction.

Answer 1

The instantaneous rate of a reaction is defined as the rate of a reaction at a specific instant during the course of the reaction.

If the average reaction rate is calculated over shorter and shorter intervals (making Δt very small) then instantaneous rate is obtained.

In case of reactant A, the instantaneous rate is represented as, `"R" = (- d[A])/dt` and in case of product B, it is represented as `"R" = (+ d[B])/dt`