ChemistryCode 9701
Effect of temperature on reaction rates and the concept of activation energy
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- define activation energy, EA, as the smallest amount of energy that colliding particles need for their collision to be effective
- sketch the Boltzmann distribution and use it to account for the importance of activation energy
- account for, in qualitative terms and drawing on both the Boltzmann distribution and the frequency of effective collisions, how changing temperature alters how quickly a reaction goes