Practice question · Multiple choice
Raising temperature speeds a reaction far more than the increase in collision frequency alone predicts. Why does the speed-up outrun the rise in collision frequency?
Hints
- Compare how fast the collision rate grows with how fast the Boltzmann factor grows.
- One is a square root; the other is an exponential.
Show the answer
D. From the fraction of collisions above the activation barrier
Why
The exponential dominates completely. This is why a 10 °C rise can double a rate while collision frequency changes by under 2%.
Practise Reaction rates and collision reasoning
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