Question

Is activation energy negative or positive?

Answer 1

1. Activation energy is the minimum quantity of energy needed to activate atoms or molecules in a state in which they can undergo a chemical reaction.
2. To get started, all chemical reactions require activation energy, even exothermic reactions.
3. Energy for activation is required so that reactants can interact with each other to form bonds.
4. The activation energy of a reaction can be positive, negative, or even zero.
5. This means the energy for activation is still positive.
6. In some cases, with increasing temperature, reaction rates decrease.
7. Usually, elementary reactions that show have negative activation energies.