5.3 - Catalysts

Question 1

What is a catalyst?

Answer 1

increases the rate of a chemical reaction. It does this by providing an alternative route for the reaction that has a lower activation energy. Importantly, the catalyst itself is not consumed in the reaction; it temporarily participates in the reaction but is chemically regenerated at the end

Question 2

How do catalysts work?

Answer 2

they usually work only for particular reactions by interacting with specific reactants.

They provide an alternative pathway for the reaction which has a lower activation energy. This lower energy requirement means a larger number of reactant particles have sufficient energy to undergo the reaction

Question 3

What does the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution show when the activation energy is lowered?

Answer 3

at a given temperature, the energies of gas particles are spread over a wide range. By lowering the activation energy, a catalyst increases the fraction of particles that have enough energy to react, thereby increasing the rate of the reaction