Trimolecular reactions are uncommon because

Options

A. the probability of many molecules colliding at an instant is high.
B. the probability of three molecules colliding at an instant is low.
C. the probability of three molecules colliding at an instant is almost zero.
D. the probability of three molecules colliding at an instant is high.

Answer

C

Explanation

Termolecular reaction is an elementry reaction that involves three reaction molecules. Both unimolecular and bimolecular reaction are common, but temolecular reactions area. As any pool player Knows, three-body collisions are much less probable than two body collisions. Therefore, it is evident that complex reaction involving three or more molecules in the stoichiometric equation must take place in more than one step.
For example, the reaction
`KCIO_(3)+6FeSO_(4)+3H_(2)SO_(4)rarrKCl+3Fe_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)+3H_(2)O`
which apparently seams to be of tenth order is actually a second order reaction. THis clearly shows that this reaction takes place in several steps.