The Demonstration plots conversion versus time and gives the position of optimal operation of the reactor (shown by a green dot). This point is found by maximizing the production of the reactor or, alternatively, by drawing the red line tangent to the conversion versus time curve. Production versus time is given in a separate plot. If the dead time is small, short reaction times are advantageous even though 100% conversion is not reached. In such cases, production can be large. As you increase the dead time, longer reactor operations are more likely to obtain maximum production.