Q.

The decomposition of phosphine (PH3) on tungsten at low pressure is a first-order reaction. It is because the            [2016]

1 rate is proportional to the surface coverage  
2 rate is inversely proportional to the surface coverage  
3 rate is independent of the surface coverage  
4 rate of decomposition is very slow  

Ans.

(1)

At low pressure, rate is proportional to the surface coverage and is of first order, while at high pressure, it follows zero order kinetics due to complete coverage of surface area.