Over 80 000 vehicles per day pass the site and the traffic is frequently congested. The surrounding area is described as forming a street canyon. The temperature at the site had reached 25 °C by 08:00, when the ethane concentration was recorded as 7.09 ppbv. This is equivalent to 1.78 × 1011 molecules cm–3. At the same time, the concentration of ethene (C2H4, another product of combustion of petrol) was 7.54 × 1010 molecules cm–3 .

Question

Over 80 000 vehicles per day pass the site and the traffic is frequently congested. The surrounding area is described as forming a street canyon. The temperature at the site had reached 25 °C by 08:00, when the ethane concentration was recorded as 7.09 ppbv. This is equivalent to 1.78 × 1011 molecules cm–3. At the same time, the concentration of ethene (C2H4, another product of combustion of petrol) was 7.54 × 1010 molecules cm–3 .
The hydroxyl radical, HO•, reacts with both ethene and ethane. For the concentrations and temperature given, calculate the ratio between the rate of the reaction of ethene and the rate of the reaction with ethane. Explain why the reaction rate per molecule is faster for ethene than it is for ethane.

Please help me.

Nicolas · Answer

Any ideas? I'm really struggling