Exothermic vs Endothermic

[Jaira_Murphy_2D]

How can you tell if a reaction is endothermic or exothermic based off Arrhenius equation, or given Ea and k?

[PranitKumaran1F]

If the Ea of the forward rxn is greater than the Ea of the reverse rxn, then it is endothermic and vise versa

[hanna_maillard3B]

so to clarify, if a higher activation energy is needed for the forward reaction compared to the reverse reaction, then the reaction is endothermic ?

[Jaira_Murphy_2D]

I love chemistry community because everyone replies so fast!

[Lydia Luong 4L]

Yes, you are correct @hanna_maillard3B

[Milena Aragon 2B]

A higher activation energy means that the reaction requires a higher temperature to move in the forward direction and since this is the case you can conclude that the reaction is endothermic (since it is using the heat from the temp. to move the reaction forward). From this you know that the reverse is true for exothermic reactions

[Jack Hewitt 2H]

Ea forward > Ea Reverse: Endothermic
Ea forward < Ea Reverse: Exothermic