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Why does a catalyst speed up a chemical reaction? A It causes the reactants to collide less frequently - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry: Combined Science - Question 9 - 2018 - Paper 1
Question 9
Why does a catalyst speed up a chemical reaction? A It causes the reactants to collide less frequently. B It decreases the overall energy change of the reaction. C... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Why does a catalyst speed up a chemical reaction? A It causes the reactants to collide less frequently - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry: Combined Science - Question 9 - 2018 - Paper 1
Step 1
C It lowers the activation energy of the reaction.
Answer
A catalyst increases the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy required for the reaction to proceed. This means that more reactant molecules have enough energy to successfully collide and form products, increasing the likelihood of the reaction occurring. It does not affect the overall energy change of the reaction or the amount of product formed, but rather facilitates the transition state for the reaction to happen.