Labs / Chemistry
Collision Theory
Molecules are always crashing into each other, but most bounces do nothing. A reaction only happens when two reactants meet hard enough to clear the activation energy and hit with the right sides facing. Turn up the temperature, crowd in more molecules, or drop in a catalyst, and watch the successful hits flash into product.
collisions 0 /ssuccess 0 %rate 0 /s
What to try
- Slide the temperature from Freezer to Furnace. How does the speed histogram shift, and how many more molecules land past the E ₊ line?
- The collision count keeps climbing with temperature, but so does the success fraction. Which one drives the reaction rate more?
- Double the concentration. Do more collisions per second always mean a bigger success fraction, or just more total product?
- Flip on the catalyst. What moves — the molecules' speeds, or the activation-energy line itself?
- Drag through the box to stir. Can you force a burst of reactions with motion alone, and why does it fade once you let go?