Question

The rate of a chemical reaction generally increases rapidly even for small temperature increase because of a rapid increase in:

• A. Collision frequency
• B. Fraction of molecules with energies in excess of the activation energy
• C. Activation energy
• D. Average kinetic energy of molecules

Answer 1

The correct option is B Fraction of molecules with energies in excess of the activation energy

Every chemical reaction, whether exothermic or endothermic has an energy barrier that has to be overcome before reactants are transformed into products.

When the temperature is increased, the number of active molecules increases, i.e., the number of effective collisions will increase and the rate of reaction increases.