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Activation energy tells you how much energy chemical reaction needs to start. Example paper wont suddenly start burning, but you need first to put some energy in paper, before that reaction starts.

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11y ago
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14y ago

It indicates how likely a reaction might be, but there are no hard rules. Low activation energy indicates that the reaction is likely to take place spontaneously. In most cases, the reaction must be exothermic as well. There are lots of exceptions to these simple rules. For any reaction to occur, the reactants must gain at least the activation energy.

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12y ago

All chemical reactions require a certain amount of activation energy to get started.

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14y ago

Activation energy is required to weaken the bonds of reactants or toconvert the reactants into activated complex which leads to the products.

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6y ago

A chemical reaction occur only when the value of activation energy is reached.

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Q: What Activation energy play in a chemical reaction?
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Is making play dough from corn starch and conditioner a physical or chemical reaction?

It would be a chemical change/reaction.


What role do catalysts play in chemical reactions?

A catalyst is a chemical species that alters the rate of a chemical reaction without undergoing any type of change. Such catalysts that slow down a reaction are called negative catalysts or poison.


What happens to a product during a chemical reaction?

The product doesn't exactly provide a role in a chemical reaction, but rather is the result of the chemical reaction occuring. The chemical reaction may occur specifically to produce that product to be used, and it then serves a role in that respect, but generally products don't play a role, but are just the outcome.


How is energy important to chemistry?

First: as a catalyst. Energy is usually required to get a chemical reaction to start. If you imagine it one molecule at a time, there are charged particles involved, and when the configuration is changed there will be a change in energy: either energy released or energy put into the system. So a catalyst, like when you heat a beaker to speed up a reaction, is needed to initiate or speed up a reaction. The heat is thermal energy, which can be needed to bring about chemical change. Second: as a release of energy. Usually, the end-configuration of molecules results in a drop in energy, and energy is released. Usually it is released as heat (thermal energy) or light (radiation, or radiant energy). Think of a bomb, it releases a lot of energy from the chemical reaction very quickly.


What is a key difference between chemical and nuclear reactions?

In a chemical reaction, the only part of the atom affected are the valence (outer energy level) electrons. Chemical reactions can result in new elements or compounds forming from different arrangements of the same original elements. The nucleus of the atom is unaffected. In a nuclear reaction, the nucleus of the atom comes into play. The nucleus can be broken up into smaller nuclei, or a neutron can decay into a proton and an electron, changing one element into another over time. Energy is released in the form of alpha, beta, or gamma decay. Both types of reactions must adhere to the laws of conservation of mass and energy.

Related questions

What roles do enzyme play in digestion?

Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts. Catalysts are substances that accelerate a chemical reaction. They decrease the activation energy of a chemical reaction.


What part does Activation Energy play on the catalyst cycle?

This obeys to the theory of absolute reaction rates or transition state theory, developed by Henry Eyring in the 1930s. This is a theory of chemical kinetics according to which the velocity of a chemical reaction is proportional to the concentration of and activated complex that is formed from the reactants. The reactants must be activated by means of an activation energy to form the activated complex before they can be converted into products. The activated complex is a transient state; an unstable complex held together by weak bonds. Therefore, the activation energy, according to this theory, is crucial to form the activation complex to be converted into products.


What role does a catalyst play in science?

A catalyst reduces the energy needed to start a chemical reaction.


Is making play dough from corn starch and conditioner a physical or chemical reaction?

It would be a chemical change/reaction.


When do you use chemical energy?

we use chemical energy when you cook, also when you move and when you play an instrument


How can air play a part in chemical weathering?

Air can have a reaction in it


Why do all chemical reactions need energy to get started?

The "certain amount of energy" you're referring to is typically called "activation energy." To explain why a chemical reaction would "need" to have an activation energy, you could use an example of a living organism, for example a human. There's reactions involved in your metabolism that convert the food you eat into energy to allow you to move your arms and legs, to breathe in and out, or even something so important as keeping your heart beating. If these reactions didn't have an activation energy, you could expect yourself to literally "burn up" as any food you eat would be uncontrollably converted into energy. There's two main controls to any chemical process: mass transfer control and kinetic control. Mass transfer control comes into play with things like if you didn't chew your food, it would be more difficult for your stomach/intestines to break down and absorb the food, so the reactions to metabolise your food are slowed. Kinetic control is related to activation energy, as described above, where given that all the reactants are present for a given reaction, e.g. metabolizing your food, the reaction needs to happen at a certain rate to sustain life. As a fun connection, reaction kinetics can be related to the temperature of the environment in which the reaction takes place, which gives you an idea of why it's so important for your body to stay around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That crappy feeling you get when you have a fever comes from all the reactions in your body that depend on a certain reaction rate being upset by the increase in temperature.


What role do catalysts play in chemical reactions?

A catalyst is a chemical species that alters the rate of a chemical reaction without undergoing any type of change. Such catalysts that slow down a reaction are called negative catalysts or poison.


What speeds up in chemical reaction?

There are numerous ways to affect the speed of a chemical reaction. They are add a catalyst, increase the concentration of reactants, increase surface area of reactants, increase pressure, and increase the energy in the environment around the reaction.


What happens to a product during a chemical reaction?

The product doesn't exactly provide a role in a chemical reaction, but rather is the result of the chemical reaction occuring. The chemical reaction may occur specifically to produce that product to be used, and it then serves a role in that respect, but generally products don't play a role, but are just the outcome.


What factors make reaction go faster?

Because at higher temperatures, there is more energy in the reactants. With more energy, they move faster. This makes them more likely to collide, causing a chemical reaction. This also results in more energy at the impact, making it easier and more likely that the reactants achieve the activation energy required for the reaction to happen. Also, in decomposition reactions, there is more energy available to complete the reaction, and the "binding states" of the reactants are under more stress (so they are easier to "break").


What does activation code means?

what does activation code mean to play a game