(a) What is the approximate value of the normal boiling point?
(b) What can you say about the strength of the intermolecular forces in neon and argon based on the critical points of Ne and Ar (see Table 11.5.)?
Step 1 of 5) A fast elementary step that follows the rate-determining step will have no effect on the rate law of the reaction. A fast step that precedes the rate-determining step often creates an equilibrium that involves an intermediate. For a mechanism to be valid, the rate law predicted by the mechanism must be the same as that observed experimentally. A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a reaction without undergoing a net chemical change itself. It does so by providing a different mechanism for the reaction, one that has a lower activation energy. A homogeneous catalyst is one that is in the same phase as the reactants. A heterogeneous catalyst has a different phase from the reactants. Finely divided metals are often used as heterogeneous catalysts for solution- and gas-phase reactions. Reacting molecules can undergo binding, or adsorption, at the surface of the catalyst. The adsorption of a reactant at specific sites on the surface makes bond breaking easier, lowering the activation energy. Catalysis in living organisms is achieved by enzymes, large protein molecules that usually catalyze a very specific reaction. The specific reactant molecules involved in an enzymatic reaction are called substrates. The site of the enzyme where the catalysis occurs is called the active site. In the lock-and key model for enzyme catalysis, substrate molecules bind very specifically to the active site of the enzyme, after which they can undergo reaction.
