Initial Velocity of a Reaction
- Because the velocity of a reaction is dependent upon the substrate concentration [S], then if [S] changes, the
velocity will change too. For reactions with a fixed initial amount of substrate, the result will be that
the velocity will decrease over time as the substrate is converted to product
- Because of this, the maximum velocity of the reaction will be the initial velocity of the reaction, v0
- The initial velocity can measured from the slope at the beginning of a reaction progress curve:
- Note how the slope approaches zero over time. This can mean that no more product is produced because all the
substrate has been converted, or it can simply mean that the reverse reaction rate equals the forward reaction rate,
with no net creation of product (equilibrium)