rates of reaction Flashcards
what is the rate of reaction
how fast the reactants are changed into products
what is one of the slowest reactions
the rusting of iron
what are explosions
very fast reactions
how can you find the speed of a reaction
by recording the amount of product formed or the amount of reactant used up over time
how can you evalutate reaction speeds through graphs
the steeper the gradient the faster the reaction
what is the collision theory
- particles must collide with enough energy for the collision to be successful
- the more collisions the faster the reaction is
what is the miniumum amount of energy needed for particles to collide called
the activation energy
why do particles need to collide with sufficient activation energy
to ensure the bonds are broken in the reactants
what are the factors that increase the rate of reaction
- larger surface area
- more conserntrated (higher pressure)
- increasing the temperature
- adding a catalyst
why does increasing temperature increase the rate of reaction
- the particles gain energy
- so they move faster
- more successful collisions
- faster rate
why does increasing the concerntration (or pressure) increase the rate of reaction
- there are more particles that can be collided with at a given point
- collisons are more likely
- faster rate
why does having a larger surface area increase the rate of reaction
- larger surface area to volume ratio
- more collisons can occur
- faster rate
define a catalyst
a stubstance which increases the rate of a reaction without being chemically changed or used up in the reaction
how do catalysts work
they don’t change the reacants but they work by decreasing the activation energy = more particles can react when they colide
what is the equation for rate of reactions
amount of reactant used or amount of product formed / time
