On imposing detailed balance in complex reaction mechanisms

Relating Reaction Mechanisms
In a multistep reaction mechanism, one of the elementary steps progresses significantly slower than the others. This slowest step is called the rate-limiting step (or rate-determining step). A reaction cannot proceed faster than its slowest step, and hence, the rate-determining step limits the overall reaction rate.
The concept of rate-determining step can be understood from the analogy of a 4-lane freeway with a short-stretch of traffic-bottleneck caused due to...

Chemical reactions often occur in a stepwise fashion involving two or more distinct reactions taking place in a sequence. A balanced equation indicates the reacting species and the product species, but it reveals no details about how the reaction occurs at the molecular level. The reaction mechanism (or reaction path) provides details regarding the precise, step-by-step process by which a reaction occurs. Each of the steps in a reaction mechanism is called an elementary reaction. These...

Chemical equations represent the identities and relative quantities of substances involved in a chemical reaction. The substances undergoing reaction are called reactants, and their formulas are placed on the left side of the equation. The substances generated by the reaction are called products, and their formulas are placed on the right side of the equation. Plus signs (+) separate individual reactant and product formulas, and an arrow (→) separates the reactant and product (left and right)...

Equilibrium calculations for systems involving multiple equilibria are often complex. For example, to calculate the solubility of a sparingly soluble salt in an aqueous solution in the presence of a common ion, one must consider all the equilibria in this solution. Calculations for these systems can be complicated and tedious, so a systematic approach with a series of steps is often helpful. The process is detailed below.
The first step is to identify all the chemical reactions involved, The...

Electrochemistry is the science involved in the interconversion of electrical and chemical reactions. Such reactions are called reduction-oxidation, or redox reactions. These important reactions are defined by changes in oxidation states for one or more reactant elements and include a subset of reactions involving the transfer of electrons between reactant species. Electrochemistry as a field has evolved to yield sufficient insights on the fundamental principles of redox chemistry and multiple...