Activation Energy
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Activation Energy
Is there an easy way to tell when a chemical reaction has too high of an activation barrier to be kinetically spontaneous even though it is already known to be thermodynamically spontaneous?
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Re: Activation Energy
From the example Dr. Lavelle went over in class, diamond to graphite with a ΔG of -3, we know that graphite is thermodynamically stable compared to diamond. Because he told us the reaction occurred slowly, that meant the activation energy was too high to be kinetically spontaneous.
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Re: Activation Energy
I think with the example of diamond to graphite, since we know from experience that diamonds don't spontaneously convert to graphite, we can assume that the activation energy is too high for it to be kinetically spontaneous. However, unless it is another example that we would easily know, I don't think we would be asked to determine that without being given the activation energy of the reaction.
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