What distinguishes the rate-determining step from the
other step...

Question

What distinguishes the rate-determining step from the 
other steps in a reaction mechanism? How does the ratedetermining 
step affect the observed rate law?

Accepted Answer

Hello everyone today. We are being given the following question which of the following statements is true regarding the rate determining step in a reaction mechanism. So first we want to recall that the rate determining step. So the rate determining step is going to require the most energy in the reaction mechanism. So we can see the rate determining step requires the most energy in a reaction. And because of this, it is the slowest step, right? And that kind of is intuitive. If something is going to take the most energy, it is best if it is done slowly and not quickly where the reaction may not occur at all. And so the rate determining step also gives the rate. So it gives us the rate at which the reaction is occurring and the rate or within the rate we have these exponents that tell us the coefficient. So the exponent tells us the amplification essentially of the reaction. So the exponents are the coefficients in these balanced chemical reactions or equations. And so with this knowledge, we can conclude that a is our answer. The coefficient of the balanced rate determining step, which is the slowest step and reaction mechanism are the exponents of the rate law. And so with that we've answered the question overall, I hope this helped until next time

Watch next