Effect of Temperature on Reaction Rates
This page explores the effect of temperature on reaction rates, a crucial aspect of chemical kinetics.
When the temperature of a reaction mixture is increased, several important changes occur:
- Reactant particles move more quickly
- The energy of the particles increases
- The frequency of successful collisions increases
- The proportion of successful collisions increases
As a result of these changes, the overall rate of reaction increases with temperature.
Highlight: Increasing temperature leads to faster-moving particles with higher energy, resulting in more frequent and successful collisions, thus accelerating the reaction rate.
The page also introduces graphical representations of reaction rates:
- Fast reactions show a steeper curve
- Slow reactions display a more gradual slope
Example: A graph showing the change in total mass or volume of product over time can visually represent the difference between fast and slow reactions.
The units for rates of reaction in higher-level chemistry are introduced as mol/s.