Very briefly discuss the relationship between transition state and activation energy. Activation energy is the difference in energy between the reactants and the transition state of a given mechanism step. It is a amount of energy that reactants must have to reach the transition state in order to proceed to the products of a given mechanism step. Dielectric constant is controlled by molecular structure. A molecule with a greater percentage of polar bonds versus nonpolar bonds will have a greater dielectric constant.
Water consist of only polar bonds.
Ethanol has the same number of poalr bonds, but more nonpolar bonds than methanol, and thus ethanol has a smaller e than methanol. Questions 10 - 15 refer to the reaction shown below. Draw the product of the reaction in the space above. The most probable mechanism for this reaction is S N 2. 12. Briefly explain your choice of reaction mechanism.