The following mechanism has been proposed for the reaction of NO with H2 to form N2O and H2O:
NO(g) + NO(g) → N2O2(g)
N2O2 + H2(g) → N2O(g) + H2O(g)
(a) Show that the elementary reactions of the proposed mechanism add to provide a balanced equation for the reaction.
(b) Write a rate law for each elementary reaction in the mechanism.
(c) Identify any intermediates in the mechanism.
(d) The observed rate law is rate = k[NO]2 [H2]. If the proposed mechanism is correct, what can we conclude about the relative speeds of the first and second reactions?