Energy of Activation
Energy of Activation
Energy of Activation
ENERGY OF ACTIVATION
I NTRODUCTIO N
ln chemistry, activation energy is a term introduced in 1889 by the
Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius to describe the minimum energy which
must be available to a chemical system with potential reactants to result in
a chemical reaction. Activation energy may also be defined as the
minimum energy required to start a chemical reaction. The activation
energy of a reaction is usually denoted by Ea and given in units
of kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol) or kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol).
Activation energy can be thought of as the height of the potential
barrier (sometimes called the energy barrier) separating
two minima of potential energy (of the reactants and products of a
reaction). For a chemical reaction to proceed at a reasonable rate, tbere
should exist an appreciable number of molecules with translational energy
equal to or greater than the activation energy.
Fo1 111 ula
4
Temperaf'ure Effec-ts
The Arrhenius Equa1"ion
-
- Ea/ where k is the ra1'e cons1'ant a1' T
k=Ae 7 RT Ea is the ac1'iva1'ion energy
R is 'the energy gas cons1'ant
=8.3145 J/(mol K)
T is the Kelvin 'temperature
A is 'the collision frequency factor
In k = In A - E0 /RT
At a more advanced level, the net Arrhenius Activation energy
term from the Arrhenius ·equation is best regarded as an
• experimentally determined parameter that indicates the
,.._, sensitivity of the reaction rate to temperature. There are two
· objections to associating this activation energy with the
threshold barrier for an elementary reaction. First, it is often
unclear as to whether or not reaction does proceed in one step;
threshold barriers that are averaged out over all elementary steps
have little theoretical value. Second, even if the reaction being
studied is elementary, a spectrum of individual collisions
contributes to rate constants obtained from bulk ('bulb')
experiments involving billions of molecules, with many
different te(\ctant collision geometries .a nd angles, different
translational and (possibly) vibrational energies-all of which
may lead to different microscopic reaction rates.
/ Temperature independence and the relation to the
Arrhenius equation
E Ea
k = Ae-:n.~ nr ln k = - Hr + ln A
Where:
Is.= Chen1lcal R .e action Rate
A = Pre-exponenltial Factor
Ea = · Activation Energy
R = Gas Constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
Endothermic Reaction Exothermic Reaction
••••••••••
Activation
energy
Activation Ene,gy
energy of prodl(tS
•••••••••••
Energy £nergy
Ciiiirfal
absorbed ~
)i
t.,I 11,1 1'7
of reactMtts
. ~..,,................
0
~ . t1.. released
C C
UJ Energy UJ ..__ Erc,gy
ol reactants ofprmts