1. the halide ion from HBr will act as the nucleophile in the first step of the reaction 2. the halide ion will act as the nucleophile in the second step of the reaction 3. the relative stabilities of the potential product species plays a large role in determining the major and minor products for this reaction 4. the intermediate with the tertiary carbocation will be formed faster than the intermediate with the secondary carbocation, giving the major product 5. Markovnikovs rule can be explained by the difference in carbocation stability