Final answer:
The principle that the mechanism for acid-catalyzed hydration of alkenes is the reverse of dehydration of alcohols is known as microscopic reversibility, a fundamental concept in understanding chemical equilibria.
Step-by-step explanation:
The principle illustrated by the fact that the mechanism for the acid-catalyzed hydration of alkenes is simply the reverse of the mechanism by which alcohols are dehydrated using concentrated acid is known as the principle of microscopic reversibility.
This principle states that the path of a chemical reaction in the forward direction is the same path it follows in reverse, just in the opposite order of steps. It is fundamental to the understanding of equilibrium in chemical reactions and is pertinent in many reactions, such as the hydration of ethene to produce ethanol or the dehydration of alcohols to form alkenes and water.