Final answer:
The rate of an acid-catalyzed hydration reaction of alkenes increases with the degree of substitution due to greater stabilization of the carbocation intermediate formed during the reaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The rate of the acid-catalyzed hydration reaction is affected by the degree of substitution of the alkene. In the hydration of an alkene, water (H2O) acts as a nucleophile that adds to the carbon-carbon double bond, and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is often used as the acid catalyst. As the degree of substitution on the alkene increases, the corresponding carbocation intermediate that forms during the reaction becomes more stable due to alkyl groups providing inductive stabilization and hyperconjugation effects.
This increased stability speeds up the formation of the carbocation, which is a key step in the reaction mechanism. Therefore, alkenes that are more substituted tend to react faster in an acid-catalyzed hydration than less substituted alkenes. For example, the hydration of tertiary butyl alcohol would proceed at a faster rate than the hydration of ethene (ethylene).