To determine the overall order of the reaction given by
A+B→C , we can derive the information based on the given details about the kinetics of reactant A and the graphical behavior of reactant B.
The first piece of information tells us that the time for the concentration of A to reduce to 1/4 of its initial concentration ([A]0/4) is twice the time it takes to reduce to half of its initial concentration ([A]0/2). This characteristic is a hallmark of first-order reactions. In first-order reactions, the time it takes for the concentration of the reactant to reduce to half of its initial value (known as the half-life,
) is constant and does not depend on the initial concentration. Specifically, the fact that the concentration decreases by a factor of 4 (to
1/4 its initial value) in twice the time it takes to decrease by a factor of 2 (to
1/2 its initial value) indicates a constant half-life, consistent with first-order kinetics for reactant A.
As for reactant B, the information provided is that a plot of its concentration change over time is a straight line with a negative slope and a positive intercept on the concentration axis. This description matches the behavior of a reactant in a reaction of zero-order kinetics with respect to B, where the rate of reaction is constant and independent of the concentration of B. In zero-order reactions, the concentration of the reactant decreases linearly over time, since the rate of decrease is constant.
Therefore, considering the kinetics of both A and B:
- Reactant A shows first-order kinetics.
- Reactant B shows zero-order kinetics.
The overall order of the reaction is the sum of the individual orders with respect to each reactant, which gives us:
Overall order=Order with respect to A+Order with respect to B=1(A)+0(B)=1.
Hence, the overall order of the reaction is 1.