JEE Main levelNumerical answerDifficulty 2 of 3g3194
The relative energies (kJ/mol) of successive stationary points along a reaction path, from reactant to product, are: 0, 48, 20, 66, 35, 41, 12, 58, −15. Every interior point is a local maximum or a local minimum. Counting only interior minima as intermediates (the reactant and product are not intermediates), how many intermediates does the reaction have?
Numerical answer type, tolerance 0.5.
Answer: 3
Interior points 48, 66, 41 and 58 are local maxima, i.e. 4 transition states. Interior points 20, 35 and 12 are local minima. The reaction therefore has 3 intermediates.