True/False Catalyst

[Michelle Steinberg2J]

"A catalyst is not consumed in the course of a reaction."
I am confused as to why this is false. I understood that a catalyst is first found on the reactant side of the equation and then is later found as a product. Is it not consumed even though it goes from the reactants to the products?

[Gurkriti Ahluwalia 1K]

"A catalyst is not consumed in the course of a reaction."
I am confused as to why this is false. I understood that a catalyst is first found on the reactant side of the equation and then is later found as a product. Is it not consumed even though it goes from the reactants to the products?

this has to be an error, catalysts are definitely not consumed. what question are you referring to and are you sure the answer key says false?

[Michelle Steinberg2J]

"A catalyst is not consumed in the course of a reaction."
I am confused as to why this is false. I understood that a catalyst is first found on the reactant side of the equation and then is later found as a product. Is it not consumed even though it goes from the reactants to the products?

this has to be an error, catalysts are definitely not consumed. what question are you referring to and are you sure the answer key says false?

You are correct!! It says true. Could you explain why? Sorry about that.

[Gurkriti Ahluwalia 1K]

"A catalyst is not consumed in the course of a reaction."
I am confused as to why this is false. I understood that a catalyst is first found on the reactant side of the equation and then is later found as a product. Is it not consumed even though it goes from the reactants to the products?

this has to be an error, catalysts are definitely not consumed. what question are you referring to and are you sure the answer key says false?

You are correct!! It says true. Could you explain why? Sorry about that.

basically, the explanation you gave originally is correct. to expand on it, think about what it means that a catalyst shows up first as a reactant and then as a product......if it showed up as a product and then immediately in the next step as a reactant, not only would it be an intermediate, but you know it is consumed because right away it was produced and then put to work and used up in a different reaction. the fact that catalysts are reactants first (say an enzyme that reacts with a substrate and then produces the product) and then they show up later on as products means they are there from the start to the end. If you have taken biology and studied enzyme substrate interactions, then think about the catalyst=enzyme. Does an enzyme change or disappear after it has finished catalyzing a reaction? no! in fact it goes on like pacman eating its little pellets. enzyme concentration does not change, only substrate/product concentrations change.