TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 7 has two goals. The first is to show how reaction rate expressions, 
, are obtained from experimental data. The second is to review the thermodynamic underpinnings for calculating reaction equilibria, heats of reactions and heat capacities needed for the rigorous design of chemical reactors.
With two adjustable constants, you can fit a straight line. With five, you can fit an elephant. With eight, you can fit a running elephant or a cosmological model of the universe.1
Section 5.1 shows how nonlinear regression analysis is used to model the temperature dependence of reaction rate constants. The functional form of the reaction rate was assumed; e.g., 
for an irreversible, second-order reaction. The rate constant k was measured at several temperatures and was fit to an Arrhenius form, k = k 0 exp( ? T act /T). This section expands the use of nonlinear regression to fit the compositional and temperature dependence of reaction rates. The general reaction is
| (7.1) |  |
and the rate expression can take several possible forms.
If the reaction is known to be elementary, then
| (7.2) |  |
where the stoichiometric coefficients are known small integers. Experimental data will be used to determine the rate constants kf and k r. A more general form for the rate expression is
| (7.3) |  |
where m, n, ,r,s, are empirical constants that may or may not be integers. These constants, together with kf and k r , must be...
