Difference?

[EvaHeinrichs3C]

So what is the distinction/difference between free energy and activation energy?

[EvaHeinrichs3C]

Are Gibb's free energy and activation energy the same thing?

[grace salvestrin 1J]

Hi Eva!

No, they are not the same. The activation energy is the amount of energy needed for the reaction to occur, and Gibb's free energy is the amount of energy available to do work.

I hope this helps :)

[amar_151]

I think visualizing this is really helpful. I drew a diagram of an exothermic reaction.

[WedaadDis3k]

Free energy is the amount of energy available for a work to be performed, whereas activation energy is the energy needed to form reactions.

[Emiliano Olivo Cauberghs]

Hi,
The main difference between activation energy and free energy is that:
- Free energy = the amount of energy available for a thermodynamic system to perform thermodynamic work
- Activation energy = the energy barrier that has to be overcome in order to obtain products from the reaction
Hope this helped?

[Charlie Gravereaux]

No, Gibbs free energy and activation energy are not the same. Free energy is the amount of energy available to do work, or literally "free energy". Activation energy is the amount of energy required for a reaction to proceed, or energy needed to "activate" the reaction.

[Julia Todorov 2F]

they are not the same, free energy is the amount of energy available for work while activation energy is the amount of energy needed for a reaction to occur/ for reactants to become products

[dericasu3a]

No, they are not the same. Gibbs free energy is the energy available to do work and the activation energy is the energy required for the reaction to happen (which can be lowered by catalysts).

[Amy Shimizu 1J]

Hi! Gibbs free energy is the free energy available to do work, while the activation energy is the amount of energy required for the reaction to occur. Though they both relate to energy, the context of their uses and applications are different!

[Kathryn Heinemeier 3H]

free energy is the energy available while activation energy is the energy barrier that needs to be surpassed in order for a reaction to occur.

[trucle_2I]

Activation energy is the energy required for a reaction to take place while free energy is the energy available.

[parisnortega1]

Free energy is the quantity of energy that a thermodynamic system can use to perform thermodynamic work, whereas activation energy of a chemical reaction is the energy barrier that needs to be surmounted in order to produce products from the reaction.

[Ali Nosseir]

The activation energy of a chemical reaction is the minimum amount of energy a reaction needs to undergo a specific reaction whereas free energy is the amount of thermodynamic energy available for the system in the reaction to do work.

[Miracle Ogbonnaya 3B]

Yes, there is a difference. Gibbs free energy helps us to know how much energy is available in a system for a reaction to take place, while activation energy is the minimum amount of energy that is required for a reaction to occur.

[Leily Garcia 1C]

Threshold energy is considered to be the minimum amount of energy that a reactant molecule must possess in order to form the product. So molecules that have kinetic energy equal to or more than threshold energy will react. Activation energy is the amount of kinetic energy given to unreactive molecules so as to become reactive. Simply, difference of threshold energy and internal energy of molecule is activation energy.