A simple two-step reaction
A turns into B, with rate constant k1, which
turns into C, with rate constant k2.
If k1 is slow and k2 is fast, then the
concentration of B is always low, as is illustrated in this
figure.
Alternatively, if k1 is fast and k2 is slow,
then the concentration of B will build up, then fall away:
To experiment with different values of k1 and k2,
type:
demo1 k1 k2
An animation of the effect of changing the values of k1
and k2 is also available. Type:
demo2
The demo version is rather smoother than this image:
It is also possible to display the effect of changing the ratio
of k1 and k2 on a three-dimensional graph.
The graph can be rotated by Gnuplot. The underside of the red
surface is coloured green, the underside of the blue surface is
magenta, and the underside of the cyan
surface is brown. To run the demonstration, type:
demo3d
These graphs were created using
Gnuplot
Next Example
© 1997 J M Goodman