Measuring rates of reaction

There are two ways to find the rate of a reaction:

• measure the rate at which a reactant is used up
• measure the rate at which a product is formed

The method chosen depends on the reaction being studied. Sometimes it is easier to measure the change in the amount of a reactant that has been used up; sometimes it is easier to measure the change in the amount of a product that has been produced.

Things to measure

The measurement itself depends on the nature of the reactant or product:

• the mass of a substance - solid, liquid or gas - is measured with a balance
• the volume of a gas is usually measured with a gas syringe, or sometimes an upside-down measuring cylinder or burette

Measuring the production of a gas using a gas syringe