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Chemistry - Energy profiles and the effect of catalysts

Energy profiles and the effect of catalysts

Catalysts are chemicals that can be used to speed up the rate of a
reaction without being consumed in the reaction.

They do this by providing a surface where reactions can occur. In doing
so, they decrease the energy needed for bond-breaking, i.e. catalysts
decrease the activation energy.

This increases the proportion of fruitful collisions and thus increases
the rate of reaction.

The effect of a catalyst is indicated below on the energy profile for an
exothermic reaction.

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The diagram below shows the effect of a catalyst on the proportion of
collisions with energy equal to or greater than the activation energy for
reactant particles at a particular temperature.

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This emphasises again that a catalyst lowers the activation energy and
increases the proportion of fruitful collisions.

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