Activation Energy

[Jessica Helfond 2F]

How do temperature and activation energy impact the rate constant?

[Vincent Li 4L]

The dependence of k on temperature and activation energy can be seen in the Arrhenius equation, given as . The constant A, is a parameter found through experimentation, similar to the activation energy Ea. As you can see, as the activation energy increases, k approaches 0. As k decreases, rate decreases as they are proportional to each other. As temperature increases, the value of k approaches its maximum, which then increases rate. Hope this helps, but I believe we'll be going more in-depth with the equation some time next week probably.

[Karan Thaker 2L]

That's exactly how I think of it as well. Simply examine the equation and see what would happen. With the Arrhenius equation, it can be a little confusing to predict it right off the bat so plug in numbers to see what happens as well.