Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Reaction
For a chemical reaction to occur, the reacting molecules should
collide with each as said by collisions theory.
Unimolecular reaction:
On this basis we can say that reactions involving three or more than
three reacting particles should be slow. However, it is observed that
some reactions involving more than three molecules are quite fast.
Thus the rate if a reaction is of first order with respect to Br- and
BrO3- ion and second order with respect to H+ ions and the overall
reaction is of1+1+2 =4.But from the reaction it is clear that the
reaction is to take place in single step, the 12 particles (5Br- ions, 1
BrO3- ion and 6H+ions) would have to collide simultaneously.
In case of multi step reaction each elementary step will take place its
own distinctive rate. Some of the steps will be very fast and some of
them will be slow.
If one step takes place much more slowly than the other steps, it will
definitely control the overall reaction rate. It means that all other
steps have to wait for the slow step.
The rate of the reaction will never be less than the rate of this slow
reaction. The other reactions will under go completion and form
products only after the occurrence of the slow step reaction.
In the above example slow step will determine the rate of reaction
Each step in the above mechanism is called elementary reaction Sum
of all the elementary reactions will give the net reaction or overall
reaction. So rate of the above reaction can be written as:
1)
From the experimental observations it is found that the rate of a
reaction is proportional to the square concentration of nitrogen
peroxide. This shows that rate-determining step in the mechanism of
this reaction must be independent of the concentration of CO. The
proposed mechanism of this reaction will be
The above reaction proceed in two steps but the rate of the overall
reaction is determined by the first step which is the slower step
Rate of the above reaction can be written as;
Rate = k [NO2] 2
Rate = k [N2O5] 2
But is found that rate law suggests it is of first order reaction. This
means reaction is a complex reaction and takes place by two or more
successive steps.
Rate = k [N2O5] 2
The rate law expression suggest that it is a complex reaction and will
proceed in a sequence of steps which are as follows
Since slow step is the rate-determining step, so above reaction is of
third order reaction i.e.
The first step is the slow and rate determining step. Thus, the rate
of the reaction is
Rate = k [H2O2][I-]
Since the first step is the slow, rate determining step. Thus, the rate
of the reaction is:
Rate = k [H2O2][I-]
Distinction between Molecularity and order of reaction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------