The theory of the adsorption wave has in the past been developed for various cases depending upon the hypothetical mechanism for the kinetics of the adsorption process. The solution for the case of mass transfer controlling has appeared in the literature in the form of a standard chart which is convenient to use. In this paper the solutions for two other cases are presented. It is shown how in dimensionless form all three cases may be reduced to a single generalized theory. This treatment has many obvious advantages. This is especially so in problems of design and in studies of the kinetics of an adsorption process.