When studying a chemical reaction, it is important to consider not only the chemical properties of the reactants, but also the conditions under which the reaction occurs, the mechanism by which it takes place, the rate at which it occurs, and the equilibrium toward which it proceeds. According to the law of mass action, the rate of a chemical reaction at a constant temperature depends only on the concentrations of the substances that influence the rate. The substances that influence the rate of reaction are usually one or more of the reactants, but can occasionally be a product. Another influence on the rate of reaction can be a catalyst that does not appear in the balanced overall chemical equation. The rate law can only be experimentally determined and can be used to predict the relationship between the rate of a reaction and the concentrations of reactants. 3.1: Gas Phase Kinetics 3.1.1: Bimolecular Reactions 3.1.1.1: SN2 reactions 3.1.2: Maxwell-Boltzmann Distributions 3.1.3: Mean Free Path 3.2: Reaction Mechanisms 3.2.1: Elementary Reactions 3.2.2: Pre-equilibrium Approximation 3.2.3: Rate Determining Step 3.2.4: Rate of Diffusion through a Solution 3.2.5: Reaction Intermediates 3.2.6: Steady State Approximation 3.3: The Rate Law The rate law is experimentally determined and can be used to predict the relationship between the rate of a reaction and the concentrations of reactants and products. 3.3.1: Order of Reaction Experiments 3.3.2: Rate Laws 3.3.3: Reaction Order