Activation energy is

Activation energy is

• A. The energy released when a bond forms.
• B. The minimum energy that colliding particles must possess for a successful collision that results in a reaction to take place.
• C. The energy required to break all bonds in the reactants.
• D. The energy that determines the overall energy change of the reaction.

Answer: (B)

Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy that colliding particles must have for a reaction to proceed. It represents the energy barrier that must be overcome to reach the transition state where bonds begin to break and new bonds begin to form. Not every collision leads to a reaction; if the energy is too low, particles simply bounce apart. When collisions have energy at or above this barrier and the particles are oriented suitably, they can form the activated complex and proceed to products. Temperature raises the fraction of particles with enough energy, speeding up the rate, and catalysts provide an alternative pathway with a lower barrier. This concept is different from the energy released when bonds form, which is about bond energies, and it’s not the energy required to break all bonds in the reactants, which isn’t necessary for most reactions to occur. It also isn’t the energy change of the reaction as a whole, which is determined by the difference in enthalpy between products and reactants.

Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy that colliding particles must have for a reaction to proceed. It represents the energy barrier that must be overcome to reach the transition state where bonds begin to break and new bonds begin to form. Not every collision leads to a reaction; if the energy is too low, particles simply bounce apart. When collisions have energy at or above this barrier and the particles are oriented suitably, they can form the activated complex and proceed to products. Temperature raises the fraction of particles with enough energy, speeding up the rate, and catalysts provide an alternative pathway with a lower barrier.

This concept is different from the energy released when bonds form, which is about bond energies, and it’s not the energy required to break all bonds in the reactants, which isn’t necessary for most reactions to occur. It also isn’t the energy change of the reaction as a whole, which is determined by the difference in enthalpy between products and reactants.