Question

The hydrolysis of ethyl acetate:

$C{H}_{3}COO{C}_2{H}_5+H_{2}O\stackrel{H^{+}}{⟶}C{H}_{3}COOH+C_2{H}_{5}OH$

is a reaction of:

• A. Pseudo first order
• B. Second order
• C. Third order
• D. Zero order

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

Pseudo first order

The reaction for the hydrolysis of ethyl acetate is,

$C{H}_{3}COO{C}_2{H}_5+H_{2}O\stackrel{H^{+}}{\to }C{H}_{3}COOH+C_2{H}_{5}OH$.

The expression for the rate of the reaction is, $rate=k\left[C{H}_{3}COO{C}_2{H}_5\right]\left[H_{2}O\right].$

But water is present in excess. Hence, the rate of the reaction is independent of the concentration of water.

$Rate=k\left[C{H}_{3}COO{C}_2{H}_5\right][H_{2}O{]}^0$

Hence, the reaction is psuedo first order reaction.