General Question

shared3's avatar

What is the relationship between catalysts and the collision theory of reactions?

Asked by shared3 (921points) April 1st, 2008

Ok, I know catalysts lower the necessary activation energy for a reaction to occur and speed up the rate of the reaction without being consumed, but what does that have to do with the collision theory of reactions, which holds that things must collide with enough energy to break bonds and with the proper orientation. But what do catalysts actually do to the molecules in a reaction?

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9 Answers

Perchik's avatar

Perhaps you should attend your classes, instead of trying to get us to do your homework? It seems like every single question that you ask is homework based. If you honestly do not understand the material, talk to the teacher. Talk to other people in your class. Read the textbook. STOP asking us.

delirium's avatar

I’m really getting fed up with the homework questions too. Quit it. This is not what fluther is for.
Gah.

lovelyy's avatar

agreed with all of the above.

shared3's avatar

They honestly aren’t homework questions. I don’t actually take chemistry right now, and my high school only offers a basic course that I’ve already taken, and the teachers don’t know what they are talking about. I looked on the internet for the answer to this question, but I couldn’t find it. I wasn’t aware that homework related questions weren’t allowed on fluther .I’m not trying to be a smart ass or anything, but is it just the atmosphere or is it actually written down somewhere?
P.S. I got an A in my chem class btw.

I realize that you have no way of verifying the validity of what I’m saying.

jrpowell's avatar

It’s cool. And I don’t have a problem with asking a homework questions if you want to know how the answer was reached. I do have a problem if you just want the answer.

But if the question helps the person learn how the solution was found I think that is a valid question.

I would help if I didn’t hate chemistry.

The wanker that wanted someone to write a paper for him the other day was crossing the line.

shared3's avatar

Yeah, I just wanted to add, if one looks at my questions, they’re hardly homework questions. They are just some things that my meager understanding of chemistry doesn’t cover. And I don’t have my textbook. I have borrowed someone else’s but these answers aren’t homework questions. If they were, the answer would be in the back of the book.

8lightminutesaway's avatar

The catalyst will react with your reactant giving a temporary new compound. This new compound has a lower activation energy, therefore, there will be more successful collisions since they no longer have to hit as hard. The catalysts bond with the reactant is broken and replaced by whatever you wanted to react it, and the catalyst continues on to the repeat the process with another molecule.
Was that so hard my fluthered friends? lol Hope that answered your question. I have a few examples I can give later if you want me to

Lightlyseared's avatar

if I remeber correctly the colision theory goes that things have to bump into each other for the reaction to work. A catalyst has sites on it that hold both bits that are going to colide once its picked up one it holds on to it till it has the other bit for the reaction to take place. This removes some of the random chance required before so the molecules need to spend less energy whizzinig about in the hope of bumping into each other so the reaction goes faster blah blah blah

mish's avatar

how does collision theory and enzyme function related together ( how they work togehter)

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