The following is a quote from an article in the August 18, 1998, issue of The New York Times about the breakdown of cellulose and starch: "A drop of 18 degrees Fahrenheit [from 77 °F to 59 °F ] lowers the reaction rate six times; a 36-degree drop [from 77 °F to 41 °F ] produces a fortyfold decrease in the rate."
(a) Calculate activation energies for the breakdown process based on the two estimates of the effect of temperature on rate. Are the values consistent?
(b) Assuming the value of Ea calculated from the 36-degree drop and that the rate of breakdown is first order with a half-life at 25 °C of 2.7 years, calculate the half-life for breakdown at a temperature of -15 °C.