What does a reaction profile show?
How energy changes as a reaction proceeds, using a curved pathway between the reactant and product energy levels.
AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy (8464) — Chemistry — Foundation · 5.5.1.2
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What does a reaction profile show?
How energy changes as a reaction proceeds, using a curved pathway between the reactant and product energy levels.
What does the highest point on a reaction profile represent?
The activation energy barrier that must be overcome.
What does the difference between the reactant and product energy levels show on a reaction profile?
The overall energy change of the reaction.
In an exothermic reaction profile, how do the product and reactant energy levels compare, and what does this indicate about energy transfer?
Products are at a lower energy than reactants, so energy is released overall.
In an endothermic reaction profile, how do the product and reactant energy levels compare, and what does this indicate about energy transfer?
Products are at a higher energy than reactants, so energy is taken in overall.
What two collision conditions are required for a chemical reaction to occur?
Reacting particles must collide, and the collision must have at least the activation energy.
What is activation energy?
The minimum energy needed for a reaction to occur.
What can a sufficiently energetic collision allow reacting particles to do?
Bonds can break, allowing atoms to rearrange into products.
How does activation energy differ from the overall energy change of a reaction?
Activation energy is the barrier to starting the reaction, not the overall energy change between reactants and products.