The rate determining Step

The rate determining step is the slowest step of a chemical reaction that determines the speed (rate) at which the overall reaction proceeds. The rate determining step can be compared to the neck of a funnel. The rate at which water flows through a funnel is limited/ determined by the width of the neck of the funnel and not by the rate at which the water is poured into the funnel. Like the neck of the funnel, the slow step of a reaction determines the rate of a reaction. Not all reactions have rate determining steps and has one only if one step is significantly slower than the other steps in the reaction.