Chemical engineers exploit chemical reactions to produce materials on a commercial scale. One of their principal activities is the design and operation of chemical reactors. In order to accomplish design goals, the engineer often needs to know the kinetics of a reaction -- the factors that influence the rate of the reaction. In what follows, a brief discussion of the basic ideas in chemical kinetics is presented along with the mathematical models used to study the kinetics of chemical reactions. The close resemblance of the mathematical equations modeling chemical kinetics to those modeling population dynamics will become apparent. Appropriate links to topics in population dynamics will be indicated for you to explore if you so desire.
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