Source: wikibot/rate-determining-step
= Rate-determining step
{wiki=Rate-determining_step}
The rate-determining step (RDS) in a chemical reaction is the slowest step in a reaction mechanism, which ultimately determines the overall rate of the reaction. In a multi-step reaction, each step has its own rate, but the RDS is the bottleneck that limits how quickly the overall reaction can proceed. Because it is the slowest step, the rate of the entire reaction is primarily dependent on the kinetics of this step.