Mrs. Batcha 816 December 2017 Research Paper How does temperature affect the rate of a chemical reaction? The way that temperature affects the speed of the chemical reaction is that increasing the temperature causes the molecules to move faster, so there is a greater chance that they will collide with each other and react. Increasing the temperature also increases the average kinetic energy of the molecules. However, for any chemical reaction to occur, the reactant particles must collide with each other. Note that at the lowest temperature, a few molecules of the reactants have the minimum amount of kinetic energy needed to provide the activation energy. At a higher temperature, many more molecules have the minimum amount of kinetic energy needed, meaning many more collisions will have enough energy to cause a reaction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Increasing the temperature not only increases the number of collisions, but also increases the number of effective collisions, which transfer enough energy to cause a reaction to take place. At a given temperature, all molecules do not move with the same kinetic energy. Some molecules move very slowly (low kinetic energy), while others move very fast (high kinetic energy). The vast majority of molecules lie somewhere between these two extremes. In fact, temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of molecules. As you can see in the figure, increasing the temperature increases the average kinetic energy of the reactants, essentially shifting the curve to the right towards higher kinetic energies. But also note the minimum amount of kinetic energy needed for the reactants to provide activation energy (the energy needed to start a reaction) during the collision. The reactants must collide at the reactive site, but they must also transfer enough energy to break the bonds so that new bonds can form. If the reactants do not have enough energy, a reaction will not take place even if the reactants collide at the reactive site. Particles collide more often at higher temperatures, and most collisions are successful. But for colder temperatures this is not the case, it will be less likely to happen. For a reaction to occur, the reacting particles must collide with sufficient energy for the collision to be successful. The rate of the reaction increases if there is an increase in temperature, concentration of reactants in solution or pressure of gaseous reactants. These changes can be explained in terms of the rate of successful collisions. A collision with too little energy will not produce a reaction. The colliding particles must have sufficient energy for the collision to be successful or effective in producing a reaction. The rate of a reaction depends on the rate of successful collisions between the reacting particles. The more successful collisions, the faster the reaction speed.