A student says, "The initial concentration of a reactant was doubled, and the rate doubled. Therefore the reaction is second order in that reactant." Why might the student say that? What is wrong with the statement? What is the actual order with respect to the reactant?

The statement: "The initial concentration of a reactant was doubled, and the rate doubled" implies the initial concentration is directly proportional to rate of reaction. That is:

Rate = K [A]₀

But this law is rate law of first order reaction. Second order reaction has as law:

Rate = K [A]₀²

These law implies: "The initial concentration of a reactant was doubled, and the rate quadruplicate", a different statement.

pstnonsonjoku pstnonsonjoku · Answer 2 · 2022-01-20T11:39:06+01:00

The reaction is second order if the rate of reaction is doubled when the initial concentration of a reactant was doubled.

The rate of reaction refers to how quickly or slowly a reaction proceeds. A second order is a reaction that has an experimental order of 2. If it is a bimolecular reaction, then the reaction is first order in each reactant.

If the reaction is unimolecular, then the reaction is second order if the rate of reaction is doubled when the initial concentration of a reactant was doubled. This statement may not be correct if the reaction is only psuedo second order.

Learn more about second order reaction: https://brainly.com/question/1195122