Determining orders of reaction

The orders of reaction with respect to each reactant in the reaction can be determined by carrying out the reaction with various different initial concentrations and measuring the change in initial rate of reaction. The orders of reaction can be determined arithmetically or graphically.

If the order of reaction with respect to one reactant is being determined, the concentration of one reactant only should change; the others should remain constant so that the change in rate can be attributed to the change in concentration of that reactant alone.

If the overall order is being determined, the concentration of all reactants should change by the same factor.