Question #44809

The acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of ethyl acetate ($\ce{CH3COOCH2CH3}$) is studied at $298 \text{ K}$. In Experiment I, the reaction is carried out in pure water ($[\ce{H2O}] = 55.5 \text{ M}$) with $0.1 \text{ M} \ \ce{HCl}$ as the catalyst and an initial ester concentration of $0.01 \text{ M}$. Under these conditions, the reaction exhibits a half-life of $40 \text{ min}$. In Experiment II, the reaction is performed in an inert water-dioxane solvent mixture where $[\ce{H2O}] = 11.1 \text{ M}$, keeping the initial ester and catalyst concentrations identical to Experiment I. Assuming the intrinsic third-order rate constant ($k$) remains unaffected by the solvent medium, determine the half-life of the ester in Experiment II and the apparent overall order of the reaction under these new conditions.