Practice question · Multiple choice
Thermodynamics governs whether a transformation is spontaneous, whereas kinetics governs its pathway and rate. What follows from this distinction when evaluating a catalyst's role in a system?
Hints
- Does altering the mechanism change the energy difference between initial reactants and final products?
- How does lowering an energy barrier affect the backward process relative to the forward one?
Show the answer
B. It accelerates the approach to equilibrium without shifting the final position
Why
Thermodynamic quantities depend solely on initial and final states, meaning a catalyst cannot alter equilibrium composition or drive non-spontaneous reactions. By lowering the activation barrier equally in both directions, it accelerates the exchange rate without perturbing the balance of species.
Practise Reaction Kinetics
The app has 4 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Chemistry I is free to start.
More questions on Reaction Kinetics
- Doubling the concentration of reactant A leaves the reaction rate unchanged. Which order with respect to A…
- The order of a reaction can always be read directly from the coefficients of its balanced equation.
- When [A] is doubled, the rate of a reaction increases by a factor of 4. What is the order with respect to A?
- Sort each quantity by whether adding a catalyst changes it.
- Which statements about the first-order half-life are correct?
- A first-order reaction has a half-life of 25 s. What percentage of the original reactant remains after 75 s?
- In an elementary reaction step, the order with respect to each reactant does equal its stoichiometric…