# Should I round an experimentally determined reaction order to an integer?

For a lab experiment I did, I'm calculating the reaction order for one of the reactants using data from two trials, both rates and the concentration of that reactant during each.

$$\frac{\text{Rate}_1}{\text{Rate}_2} = \left(\frac{[A]_1}{[A]_2}\right)^x$$

The number I got from that for the reaction order for reactant a was 0.967. DO I put that exactly as the reaction order, or just round and say it's a first order reaction, and the little bit of different is just a result of the number I get from my calculations not being perfect?

I'm also trying to calculate $K_\mathrm{eq}$, and need to know if I should use $[A]^1$ or $[A]^{0.967}$ in the calculation of $K_\mathrm{eq}$.

• Real-world numbers are never perfect. Consider it 1. – Ivan Neretin Feb 27 '16 at 0:41
• Alright, thanks. Wanted to be absolutely sure. – Caesium-133 Feb 27 '16 at 1:04
• It's probably 1. You can do propagation of uncertainty to make sure that your number is equivalent to 1 if you like. – Sean Doris Feb 27 '16 at 6:56