The order of a reaction with respect to a particular reactant
- A. is always equal to its coefficient in the balanced equation
- B. is the power to which its concentration is raised in the experimentally determined rate equation
- C. can never be zero
- D. is always a whole number
Explanation
Order is an experimental quantity and must be measured, because the balanced equation describes the overall stoichiometry while the rate depends only on the slow, rate determining step. This is why orders can be zero, fractional or even negative, none of which a coefficient can be. Only for a genuinely single step reaction do order and coefficient happen to agree.