Question

The half-life of a given reaction is doubled if the initial concentration of the reactant is doubled. What is the order of the reaction?

(a) 0

(b) 1

(c) 2

(d) 3

This question was posed to me in a job interview.

Asked question is from Chemical Kinetics topic in portion Chemical Kinetics of Chemistry – Class 12

Answer 1

The correct choice is (a) 0

The explanation: Half-life (t1⁄2) is the time required for a quantity to reduce to half of its initial value. The half-life of a zero-order reaction is directly proportional to its initial concentration. They are related as:

t1/2 = [R]0/2k.