Consecutive or Sequential  Reactions 

This reaction is defined as that reaction which proceeds from reactants to final products through one or more intermediate stages. The overall reaction is a result of several successive or consecutive steps.

A → B → C and so on

For the reaction

…....(i)

…......(ii)

….......(iii)

Integrating equation (i), we get

Now we shall integrate equation (ii) and find the concentration of B related to time t.

Integration of the above equation is not possible as we are not able to separate the two variables, [B] and t. Therefore we multiply equation (4) by an integrating factor , on both the sides of the equation.

Integrating with in the limits 0 to t.

Now in order to find [C], substitute equation (vi) in equation (iii), we get 

B_max and t_max:     

We can also attempt to find the time when [B] becomes maximum. For this we differentiate equation (vi)  and   find d[B]/dt & equate it to zero.

Substituting  equation (vii)  in equation (vi)