6.2.5,6.2.6 and 6.2.7

6.2.5 Sketch and explain qualitatively the Maxwell–Boltzman energy distribution curve for a fixed amount of gas at different temperatures and its consequences for changes in reaction rate.

Increasing the temperature increases the rate of all reactions because particles have greater kinetic energy thus meaning more particles have kinetic energy exceeding the activation energy. The graph above shows to similar curves because area is proportional to the total number of particles. But when increasing the temperature, the peak of the curve shifts right resulting in an increase in collision frequency and thus more successful collisions. However the area remains the same because the number of particles doesn't change. Area shows the number of particles.

6.2.6 Describe the effect of a catalyst on a chemical reaction.

The effect of adding a catalyst is that the rate of reaction increases however the catalyst remains unchanged. Catalysts work by providing an alternative route which has lower activation energy so this speeds up the reaction as more particles have more kinetic energy than the activation energy.

6.2.7 Sketch and explain Maxwell– Boltzmann curves for reactions with and without catalysts.

Catalysts increase the proportion of particles that have values for kinetic energy greater than the activation energy.