Why do chemical reactions require energy of activation?

Question

Accepted Answer

Welcome back everyone. What is the minimum energy required for a chemical reaction to occur? Choice A states, activation energy, choice B states, thermal energy, choice C states, potential energy and choice D states, kinetic energy. So let's begin with defining activation energy and choice A in which we should recall that it's described as the symbol capital E sub A and is also defined as the minimum amount of energy required for the reactants to overcome the energy barrier that it faces with our products in order for the reaction to occur. So ultimately, this will involve a reactant collision where our reactants must collide with a certain amount of energy, which is specific to be able to break the bonds that are existing in our reactants. So we have bonds which break in our reactants. This will correspond to the formation of new bonds which will result in the formation of our products and as a whole, this collision is what initiates our reaction. So now let's consider choice B which considers thermal energy. We're going to recall that thermal energy is described as energy due to the temperature. And it's also known as heat energy in choice C we consider potential energy. And let's recall that potential energy is energy due to position. And last, we have kinetic energy in which we can recall that kinetic energy describes energy due to motion recall that potential energy represents the stored energy of an object and has the potential to be converted to other forms of energy such as kinetic energy. So now with all of these definitions outlined based on our definitions, we wanna note that for activation energy, we were ultimately describing a condition for initiating a reaction which again relates the activation energy required for our reactants in their collision to break bonds and form new bonds to make our products. And this is going to occur only in a chemical reaction. So we would rule out choice B which describes thermal energy and choice C and D as well, which describe energy due to position and motion which are not related to a chemical reaction. So that only encompasses a small portion of a chemical reaction. But choice A will completely fully define the minimum energy required for a reaction to occur. So choice, a activation energy is our final answer. I hope that this made sense and let us know if you have any questions.

Why do chemical reactions require energy of activation?

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Key Concepts

Energy of Activation

Reaction Mechanism

Catalysts