12.

Activation energy: the excess energy that the reactant molecules must acquire in order to
cross the energy barrier and to change into the products is called the activation energy of the
reaction.

Activation energy = threshold energy-average energy possessed by reactant molecules.

Each reaction has a definite value of activation energy. The value of activation energy
decides the fraction of collisions which are effective. Smaller the activation energy of the
reaction, higher is the number of molecules capable of crossing the energy barrier and
consequently the greater is the rate of reaction.

The activation energies for forward and backward reactions in a reversible reaction are shown
in the following figures.



K=A e
-Ea/RT

Where A is a constant known as frequency factor and gives the frequency of binary collisions
of reactant molecules per second per liter. Ea is the energy of activation, R is gas constant
and T represents the temperature of the system. k is the rate constant of the reaction
Arrhenius equation can also be expressed as
10 10
log log
2.303
a
E
k A
RT
(iv)

From this equation, it is clear that as the value of T increases, the value of k and hence the
rate of reaction increases.

Calculation of activation energy: the Arrhenius equation enables us to calculate the value of
activation energy for a chemical reaction. Following two methods may be used.