Rates

Rates are easily defined as a change occurring over time.

What are some examples of rates?

One example is the speed at which a car is going. When you talk about how fast a car is going a common expression used in the United States is “miles per hour”. “Miles per hour” is a rate meaning that the car is going so many miles in an hour.

Rates in chemistry usually refer to how fast a reaction is proceeding. Rates of a reaction can be useful in finding out how much product is being formed in a certain amount of time.

A word that is commonly run into with when dealing with rates is catalyst.

A catalyst is something that speeds up the rate.

For example, if you left your bike out in the open it would eventually rust. However, if it started raining then the bike would rust even faster. The water is acting as a catalyst in the process of rusting a bike.

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