Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 6B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For this chemical reaction network, the law of mass action gives the reaction rates are , and . Their stoichiometry givesHere the convention for absorbs any combinatorial factor for two identical reactants. Direct differentiation gives the two conservation lawsEliminating and leavesFor positive , use the dimensionless variables , and . With prime marks denoting differentiation in , this becomeswhere
Stoichiometry 2026-10-05
Stoichiometry records reactant and product multiplicities in a chemical reaction or a chemical reaction network. The change caused by one reaction is its stoichiometric vector; multiplying by the reaction rate gives its contribution to the concentration equations. For two identical reactants the rate-constant convention absorbs any combinatorial factor.