1. reaction rate laws are frequently used to investigate reaction mechanisms. wo
ID: 1018212 • Letter: 1
Question
1. reaction rate laws are frequently used to investigate reaction mechanisms. would your results to this experiment be consistent with either or both of the following mechanisms? a. single step bimolecular reaction between dye and NaClO b. slow unimolecular decomposition of the dye followed by a rapid electron transfer reaction with ClO- ion which mechanism is correct? can you be certain that a mechanism is correct? I know the answer is the single step bimolecular reaction between dye and naclo. However I have a hard time explaining it. Can someone clarify what single step bimolecular reactions are and what they require in order to occur?
Explanation / Answer
Reaction mechanism shows the complete step by step process of a reaction including 1) the order/sequence of bond breaking and bond making iRDSRn the reaction 2) the structure of the intermediates formed in the reaction .that form in one elementary step and gets used up in the next (,consequently not showing up in the final reaction)3) the transition state with the maximum rate 4) the reaction rate
As with 4) the reaction rate .the rate of the slowest step is considered as the rate and the step as the rate determining step(RDS).As the reaction cannot be slower than the RDS ,this step corresponds with the experimentally determined rate law.
So ,single step(elementary step) bimolecular reaction between dye and naclo explains the reaction mechanism not a multi-step one.
Moreover, a Bimolecular reaction has two molecules in the reaction step giving products.But the order of the reaction has to be determined experimentally if a reactant is a part of more than one elementary step in a multistep reaction.It is to be reminded that order of a reaction is the index to which the concentration of a reactant is raised in the experimentally determined rate law.order are not the same as the stoichiometric coefficient of a reactant ,so only experimentation helps in its determination.
However,for single step reaction orders with respect to a given reactant are equal to the stoichiometric coefficient of the reactant and overall order of the reaction=sum of the the stoichiometric coefficients of all the reactants.
example if A+B----> products or 2A----> products is a bimolecular reaction involving two molecules of reactants. the order =2
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