Slow Step Mechanism

[305421980]

Is it more common for the early steps or the later steps to be the slow step?

[nehashetty_2G]

I think it really depends on the step mechanism itself. However, for our exam purposes, I believe they will most likely have the slow step in the middle somewhere (my speculation).

[Jessica Li 4F]

Yes, it definitely depends on the reaction, so pay attention to the descriptors!

[Joowon Seo 3A]

It entirely depends on the reaction itself.

[Omar Selim 1D]

It is reaction dependent and there is no general assumption that can be made unless give the problem's specifics

[jisulee1C]

It is written in the problem whether or not the step is slow or not. If a step is slow you can assume there is a high activation energy, or the forward reaction is not spontaneous and therefore the reverse reaction does not occur for a slow step.

[Madelyn Romberg 1H]

It depends on the reaction but from what we have been given thus far, it seems as though lavelle will tell us which is the fast and slow step.

[Samuel G Rivera - Discussion 4I]

I'm not sure if early or later steps are more common but I've seen more problems with the later step being the slower reaction rate which would create a "bottle neck" or a back up in intermediate reactants