2) Factors which affect the rates of chemical reactions

•  There are four important factors that affect the rate of reaction: temperature, concentration, surface area and catalyst
• Temperature:

  • In a hot reaction mixture the particles move more quickly
  • they collide more often and with greater energy, so more collisions are successful.
• Concentration:

  • At higher concentrations, the particles are crowded closer together
  • they collide more often, so there are more successful collisions.
  • Increasing the pressure of reacting gases also increases the frequency of collisions.
• Surface are:

  • Small pieces of a solid reactant have a large surface area in relation to their volume
  • More particles are exposed and avalible for collisions, so there are more collisionsand a faster reaction