Each pre-class Podia question is based on the pre-class material and working through the pre-class material will help you formulate your response. Consider the problem and write down/draw out your solution in your class notebook. These questions are designed to hone your skills so that you can analyze and solve mastery problems you will encounter throughout the course.
Two days before the next whole-class session, the pre-class Podia question will become visible in Podia, where you can click on the prompt and submit your answer.
Submissions for pre-class Podia activities are due 1 hour before the start of your whole-class. Be sure to submit your response before the due time.
Day 30 Pre-Class Podia Activity
Amino acids formed on the primitive Earth somehow combined to form dimers, trimers, and eventually polymers (proteins). Consider the overall reaction for the dimerization of alanine (Ala):
Experimentally, it was found that the rate law for this process can be expressed as rate = k[Ala]2. Several possible mechanisms have been suggested for this reaction. Schematic representations of two of them are shown below:
- Write the individual steps that correspond to each mechanism.
- Identify the molecularity of each step and the associated rate law.
- Evaluate which of the two mechanisms would be consistent with the experimental result for the overall rate law for the reaction.
- Propose a different reaction mechanism that involves a quick first step in which reacting species reach equilibrium, followed by a slow step. Evaluate whether this type of mechanism would git the experimental results for the overall rate law.
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