Transition States

[Janice Xiao 1I]

What occurs at a transition state and why is its energy so high?

[Justin Yu 3H]

Transition states are where two molecules hit each other with enough force to create a combined complex that can either form the products or separate back into the reactants. This requires a lot of energy because the products might be more thermodynamically stable in the product form, but a lot of energy is still needed to break the bonds of the original molecules in order for them to form new bonds.

[Liz White 1K]

To see how high the energy of the transition state is, just look at the graph of a reaction. The transition states are the peaks of each slope. Therefore, they are at the highest point of each step, so they have high energy.

[melissa carey 1f]

I use this:

A---B--C is the transition state since it has a lot of energy, and shows the collision of the particles.