Preferred Label : canonical rate constant;
IUPAC definition : The rate constant for a system in which the reactants are in thermal equilibrium at
a given temperature. In statistical mechanics the expression 'canonical ensemble'
is used to refer to a closed system in thermal equilibrium, the species being present
in a statistical distribution. By contrast, a microcanonical ensemble is composed
of systems all having the same energy: a canonical ensemble therefore consists of
a statistical distribution of microcanonical ensembles. The canonical or thermal rate
constant can be obtained from the microcanonical rate constant by summing over the
energy, taking into account the statistical distribution.;
Origin ID : C00789;
See also
The rate constant for a system in which the reactants are in thermal equilibrium at
a given temperature. In statistical mechanics the expression 'canonical ensemble'
is used to refer to a closed system in thermal equilibrium, the species being present
in a statistical distribution. By contrast, a microcanonical ensemble is composed
of systems all having the same energy: a canonical ensemble therefore consists of
a statistical distribution of microcanonical ensembles. The canonical or thermal rate
constant can be obtained from the microcanonical rate constant by summing over the
energy, taking into account the statistical distribution.
