3.1.5.5. effect of catalysts

Cards (5)

what is a catalyst?
A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being used up in the reaction
how does a catalyst work?
it provides an alternative reaction path that requires a lower activation energy for the reaction to occur
what happens to the MB distribution curve?
it is unchanged in shape
what happens to the position of the activation energy?
shifted to the left so that a greater proportion of molecules have sufficient energy to react
catalyst MB curve