Question

A reaction involving two different reactants can never be __________

Answer 1

Unimolecular reaction:

• A reaction in which only one reacting molecule is involved is known as a Unimolecular reaction.
• Example: Decomposition of ammonium nitrite.
• The chemical reaction can be depicted as:

$2{\mathrm{NaNO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)\to 2{\mathrm{NaNO}}_2\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)$

Bimolecular reaction:

• “A bimolecular reaction involves a simultaneous collision between two species.”
• Example: Dissociation of hydrogen iodide.
• The chemical reaction can be depicted as:

$2{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+{\mathrm{I}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to 2\mathrm{HI}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)$

Thus, a reaction involving two different reactants can never be an unimolecular reaction.