Rates of Reaction: The Effect of Temperature, Concentration and Pressure

Rates of reaction refer to the speed at which reactants turn into products in a chemical reaction.
Temperature greatly influences rates of reaction. When the temperature increases, the energy of the particles also increase, making collisions between particles more frequent and intense, hence, speeding up the reaction.
Higher temperatures provide particles with more energy, making collisions more successful as they are more likely to exceed the energy barrier known as the activation energy.
Concentration and pressure also impact the rates of reaction. More concentrated solutions or higher pressures mean there are more particles in the same space, increasing the likelihood of collisions and thereby speeding up the reaction.
Conversely, lowering concentration and pressure reduces the frequency of particle collision, thereby slowing down the rate of reaction.
The activation energy is the minimum energy that particles need to react. Higher activation energy barriers mean slower reaction rates because fewer particles have enough energy to surpass the barrier.
Catalysts are substances that can lower the activation energy and speed up the reaction, without being used up in the process.
Plotting graphs of reactant concentration against time can help illustrate the rate of reaction visually.
The initial rate of reaction can be determined by the gradient of the initial part of these graphs.
Collision theory is a key model in deepening the understanding of the rates of reaction - it proposes that reactions occur when particles collide with sufficient energy and in the correct orientation.
Ensure to understand the role of temperature, pressure, concentration, and catalysts and how they can each increase the frequency of successful collisions according to collision theory.