In order to be in a position to manipulate any operation, one has to know all the fine details of the system and where and how one might apply subtle changes to affect the outcome. When looking at chemical reactions, it is from the study of its kinetics that one gleams the insight necessary to be able to do this. The main use of chemical kinetics is to measure the speed of a chemical reaction. But more importantly, in measuring the speed of a reaction, one gains insight as to what part of the reaction imparts this speed (or lack thereof) and thus allows one to propose a specific mechanism that details the critical pathway for the reaction. Measuring the speed of a chemical reaction is very similar to measuring speed in general, except that instead of talking in terms of distance traveled per unit time we are measuring either reactants consumed per unit time or products produced per unit time. There are many factors that affect the speed of a chemical reaction, some of the more common ones being: