If the reaction Cl2 (g) + O3 (g) = Cl2O (g) + O2 (g) occurred in just two steps, what would be the overall order of the reaction be?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. not possible to determine from the information given
help
To determine the overall order of a reaction, we need to know the sum of the orders of the individual reactants involved in the rate equation.
The given reaction occurs in two steps:
Step 1: Cl2 (g) → 2Cl (g)
Step 2: 2Cl (g) + O3 (g) → Cl2O (g) + O2 (g)
In the first step, Cl2 (g) reacts to form 2Cl (g). The rate equation for this step would depend only on the concentration of Cl2, which indicates that the reaction is first-order with respect to Cl2.
In the second step, there is a combination of Cl (g) and O3 (g) to form Cl2O (g) and O2 (g). The rate equation for this step would depend on the concentrations of both Cl and O3, indicating that the reaction is second-order with respect to Cl and O3.
To find the overall order of the reaction, we sum the orders of the individual reactants.
Overall order = 1 (from step 1) + 2 (from step 2) = 3
Therefore, the overall order of the reaction would be 3.
The correct answer is (c) 3.