Problem :

Identify the intermediates and the catalysts (if any) in the following mechanism.

H2O is a catalyst because it does not appear in the overall balanced equation but is involved in the mechanism. HOCl, OH-, and HOBr are intermediates because they are both created and consumed in the reaction and do not appear in the overall balanced equation.

Problem :

What is the activation energy of a reaction that doubles in rate with a 10oC rise in temperature? Assume the starting temperature is 298 K.

To solve this problem we will use the Arrhenius equation. By taking the ratio of the two equations for the rate constants at T1 and T2, we can cancel out the frequency and orientation factors. The rest of the solution is algebraic manipulation.