Question

If the first step is slow and the second one is fast, what rate law do you expect to be observed for the overall reaction?

Answer 1

Answer:

The  rate law of the first step

Explanation:

In reactions with multiple steps, teh overall reaction rate is ruled by the rate of the slower step. This is because the slower step creates an effect of "bottle neck" and it  doesn't matter how fast are the other steps.

For example, given:

$A \longrightarrow B \longrightarrow C$

If the production of B is the slow step, B is going to be consumed fast to produce C but you can't produce more C if you don't have B. So it doesn't matter the rate of production of C if you can produce B at the same rate.