Reaction Graphs

[Joyce Gu 1E]

When looking at a reaction graph, how do you determine which reactants have the smallest/greatest rate in the forward/reverse direction?

[Virpal Gill 1B]

The greater the activation energy of each step, the slower the rate. So the curves with smaller hills/height (whatever you'd like to call them) have lower activation rates and are therefore faster (have greater rates).

[Tim Nguyen 2J]

Higher peaks should indicate a slower rate since it takes more energy to overcome the higher activation energy. Lower peaks are easier to overcome thus indicating a lower activation energy.

[Guangyu Li 2J]

The greater the activation energy, the longer reactants cost to reach the energy barrier, and the slower the reaction rate. For the endothermic reactions, since products need to overcome a higher energy barrier, the forward reaction is slower than the reverse reaction; For the exothermic reactions, since products need to overcome a lower energy barrier, the reverse reaction is faster than the reverse reaction.

Hope this helps! Good luck in the Final!