Consider the reversible, first-order interconversion of two molecules A and B: where kf = 3.0β¨10-3 s-1 is the rate constant for the forward reaction and kr = 1.0β¨10-3 s-1 is the rate constant for the reverse reaction. We'll see in Chapter 15 that a reaction does not go to completion but instead reaches a state of equilibrium with comparable concentrations of reactants and products if the rate constants kf and kr have comparable values.
(a) What are the rate laws for the forward and reverse reactions?