1. Chemical kinetics deals with the rates of chemical reactions rather than their thermodynamic favorability. A reaction may be energetically favorable but still proceed slowly if there is no low-energy reaction pathway.
2. The rate of a reaction is expressed as the change in concentration of a species with time. Rate laws relate the rates of reactions to concentrations of reactants and can be determined experimentally.
3. Common rate laws include zero-order, first-order, and second-order reactions. The overall order of a reaction is the sum of the exponents on the concentrations of reactants in the rate law. Kinetics aims to determine the rate laws and rate constants for reactions.