Chemists and engineers must be able to predict the changes in chemical concentration in a reaction. A model used for many single-reactant
processes is
Rate of change of concentration=−kCn
where C is the chemical concentration and k is the rate constant. The
order of the reaction is the value of the exponent n. Solution methods for
differential equations can show that
the solution for a rst-order reaction ( n = 1) is
C(t)=C(0)e−kt
The following data describe the reaction
(CH3)3CBr+H2O→(CH3)3COH+HBr
Use these data to obtain a least-squares fit to estimate the value of k.