In chemistry and physics, activation energy is the minimum amount of energy that must be provided for compounds to result in a chemical reaction. The activation energy (Ea) of a reaction is measured in joules per mole (J/mol), kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol) or kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol). Activation energy can be thought of as the magnitude of the potential barrier (sometimes called the energy barrier) separating minima of the potential energy surface pertaining to the initial and final thermodynamic state. For a chemical reaction to proceed at a reasonable rate, the temperature of the system should be high enough such that there exists an appreciable number of molecules with translational energy equal to or greater than the activation energy. The term "activation energy" was introduced in 1889 by the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius.
Although less commonly used, activation energy also applies to nuclear reactions and various other physical phenomena.
Arrhenius equation
The Arrhenius equation gives the quantitative basis of the relationship between the activation energy and the rate at which a reaction proceeds. From the equation, the activation energy can be found through the relation
where A is the pre-exponential factor for the reaction, R is the universal gas constant, T is the absolute temperature (usually in kelvins), and k is the reaction rate coefficient. Even without knowing A, Ea can be evaluated from the variation in reaction rate coefficients as a function of temperature (within the validity of the Arrhenius equation).
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.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Familiarization with practical aspects encountered in chemical reaction engineering.
A research project is carried out along twelve weeks where a close interaction is required between the different g
The students will learn about the essential chemical, thermodynamic and physical mechanisms governing thin film growth, about the most important process techniques and their typical features, includin
The theoretical background and practical aspects of heterogeneous reactions including the basic knowledge of heterogeneous catalysis are introduced. The fundamentals are given to allow for the use of
Ce cours décrit les mécanismes fondamentaux du système immunitaire. Ses connaissances seront ensuite utilisées pour mieux comprendre les bases immunologiques de la vaccination, de la transplantation,
Ce cours décrit les mécanismes fondamentaux du système immunitaire pour mieux comprendre les bases immunologiques dela vaccination, de la transplantation, de l’immunothérapie, de l'allergie et des mal
Chemical kinetics, also known as reaction kinetics, is the branch of physical chemistry that is concerned with understanding the rates of chemical reactions. It is different from chemical thermodynamics, which deals with the direction in which a reaction occurs but in itself tells nothing about its rate. Chemical kinetics includes investigations of how experimental conditions influence the speed of a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's mechanism and transition states, as well as the construction of mathematical models that also can describe the characteristics of a chemical reaction.
In chemistry and physics, activation energy is the minimum amount of energy that must be provided for compounds to result in a chemical reaction. The activation energy (Ea) of a reaction is measured in joules per mole (J/mol), kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol) or kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol). Activation energy can be thought of as the magnitude of the potential barrier (sometimes called the energy barrier) separating minima of the potential energy surface pertaining to the initial and final thermodynamic state.
The reaction rate or rate of reaction is the speed at which a chemical reaction takes place, defined as proportional to the increase in the concentration of a product per unit time and to the decrease in the concentration of a reactant per unit time. Reaction rates can vary dramatically. For example, the oxidative rusting of iron under Earth's atmosphere is a slow reaction that can take many years, but the combustion of cellulose in a fire is a reaction that takes place in fractions of a second.
Explores time-temperature equivalence in rheology, discussing polymer properties and viscoelastic behavior at varying temperatures.
Covers band-like transport, polaronic transport, charge transfer mechanisms, and temperature dependence in organic semiconductors.
Explores chemical kinetics, including reaction rates, transition state, and catalysts, emphasizing the impact of concentration and temperature on reaction rates.
Cemented carbides are widely used in the cutting tools industry for their mechanical properties. They are composite materials made of hard tungsten carbide grains jointed together by a ductile cobalt
Nanoporous single-layer graphene (N-SLG) membranes, owing to their single-atom thinness, have the potential to exceed the permeance and selectivity limits of gas separation membranes. However, two key
Here we discuss "hidden variables", which are typically introduced during an experiment as a consequence of the application of two independent variables together to create a stimulus. With increased s