The reaction (nitrogen monoxide reacts with hydrogen gas to form nitrogen gas and water vapor) is believed to take place in three steps, the first of which is the fast reversable dimerization of NO to form N2O2, and the last of which is the reaction N2O + H2 - N2 + H2O. (i) what is the (slow) second step? (ii) Show, using the stead-state approximation, that the mechanism is consistant with the obseved rate law. (iii) Why is it only approximatily true that the reaction is first-order in H2?

Question

The reaction (nitrogen monoxide reacts with hydrogen gas to form nitrogen gas and water vapor) is believed to take place in three steps, the first of which is the fast reversable dimerization of NO to form N2O2, and the last of which is the reaction N2O + H2 -> N2 + H2O. (i) what is the (slow) second step? (ii) Show, using the stead-state approximation, that the mechanism is consistant with the obseved rate law. (iii) Why is it only approximatily true that the reaction is first-order in H2?