Consecutive Exponential Decay

k

a

1

k

a

k

b

1

A reaction

A

k

a

⟶

B

k

b

⟶

C

with rate constants

k

a

and

k

b

is shown; you can vary

k

a

and the ratio

k

a

k

b

. Plots are shown for the time-dependent concentrations that are solutions to the corresponding differential equations:

∂

t

a(t)=-

k

a

a(t)

∂

t

b(t)=

k

a

a(t)-

k

b

b(t)

∂

t

c(t)=

k

b

b(t)

More information on the solutions and special cases can be found in Details.