Why does the slowest step considered a rate determining step of the reaction?
This is because the slowest step requires more time to happen... as there can be several other processes involved in completion. One example is that a reactant may need to diffuse or migrate to a specific reaction site before another reaction can take place which then produces a product instantly. Reactions are termed as an order (1st order, 2nd order, 3rd order) depending on the rate at which they progress.