Chapter 20, Problem 10TE

To determine

The difference between the activation energy of a reaction taking billions of years to complete and the activation energy of a reaction taking only fractions of seconds.

Answer to Problem 10TE

Some of the reactions have high activation energy while some of the reactions require less activation energy and thus some reactions require billions of years while some require only fractions of seconds.

Explanation of Solution

The activation energy is the minimum required energy barrier which when passed by the reactant molecule can get converted into the product molecule to complete the reaction.

It is the important criterion for a reaction to complete and thus the rate of the reaction majorly depends on the activation energy of a reaction.

Some of the reactions have high activation energy while some of the reactions require less activation energy and accordingly the rate of the reaction depicts.

Thus, there are some reactions which have very high activation energy and takes a very long time maybe billions of years to complete the reaction while there are some reactions that has very low activation energy and takes very less time maybe only fractions of seconds to complete the reaction.

So accordingly we have to provide high input of energy for this type of conversion or we can use the catalyst to enhance the speed.

Conclusion:

Since some of the reactions have high activation energy while some of the reactions require less activation energy and therefore some reactions require billions of years while some require only fractions of seconds.