The lifetime of a chemical species which decays in a first-order process is the time needed for a concentration of this species to decrease to 1/e of its original value. Statistically, it represents the mean life expectancy of an excited species. In a reacting system in which the decrease in concentration of a particular chemical species is governed by a first-order rate law , it is equal to the reciprocal of the sum of the (pseudo)unimolecular rate constants of all processes which cause the decay. When the term is used for processes which are not first order, the lifetime depends on the initial concentration of the species, or of a quencher, and should be called apparent lifetime instead. See also chemical relaxation , half-life , rate of reaction .
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