Kinetics Flashcards
What is activation energy?
The minimum energy needed for a reaction to occur
What is a catalyst?
A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction but is chemically unchanged at the end. They work by providing an alternate reaction pathway with a lower activation energy
What is enthalpy change?
A heat change at constant pressure
What is the rate of a reaction?
Change in the concentration of a reactant (or product) per unit time
What does collision theory state?
For a reaction to occur, particles must:
-Collide with each other
-Have the correct orientation
-Have sufficient energy to react (activation energy)
What 3 things can cause the rate of reaction to increase?
-Increase the frequency of collisions
-Increase energy of reactants
-Lower the activation energy using a catalyst
How do you increase the rate of reaction?
-increasing the concentration
-Increase the surface area
- Increase temperature
- Add a catalyst
How does increasing the concentration/pressure increase the rate of reaction?
-Increases the number of reactant molecules per unit volume of a solution
-Increases the frequency of collisions
How does increasing the surface area increase the rate of reaction?
- More reactant is exposed
- More successful collisions
How does increasing the temperature increase the rate of reaction?
- Increases the kinetic energy of reactant molecules
- More have sufficient energy to react and so there are more successful collisions
How does adding a catalyst increase the rate of reaction?
- Lowers activation energy
- More particles have sufficient energy to react
What does a Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution curve look like?
What does the starting point of a Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution curve show?
Only very few reactant molecules have a low amount of energy
What does the end of a Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution curve show?
Only very few reactant molecules have a high amount of energy
Where does the modal/ most probable amount of energy lie on a Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution curve?
At the very peak of the curve
Where does the mean average particles with energy lie on a Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution curve?
Just below the peak of the curve