Collision Theory and Activation Theory
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What are the two basic assumptions of the collision theory?
• For a reaction to occur, the reacting particles must collide with each other • A collision only results in the formation of products if a certain minimum energy is exceeded in the collision. Such a collision is called an effective collision
Define an effective collision
Is a collision that results in the formation of products
What happens when an effective collision occurs?
Bonds are broken and new bonds are formed
What does the breaking of bonds and formation of new bonds in an effective collision result in?
The formation of products
According to the collision theory, what does the rate of reaction depend on?
The number of collisions per second that take place between the reacting particles The fraction of these collisions that are effective
The total number of collisions does not determine the rate of reactions, instead what does?
The number of effective collisions
What happens when molecules with low energies collide?
They simply bounce apart without any reaction taking place
Only what type of molecules form products when they collide?
High enough energy molecules
A certain amount of what is necessary for a chemical reaction to occur when molecules collide?
Energy
Define activation energy
The minimum energy that colliding particles must have for a reaction to occur
How does collision theory explain why reactions are faster at higher temperatures?
As a greater number of collisions reach the activation energy
Define an energy profile diagram
A graph which shows the change in energy of a chemical reaction with time as the reaction progresses