Kinetics and Collision Theory

Chemical kinetics is the study of the rates of chemical reactions or how fast reactions occur.
The primary requirement for a reaction to occur is that the reactant particles (atoms or
molecules) must collide and interact with each other in some way. This is the central idea of
the collision model, which is used to explain many of the observations made about chemical
kinetics.

Collision theory states that the rate of a chemical reaction is proportional to the number of
collisions between reactant molecules. The more often reactant molecules collide, the more
often they react with one another, and the faster the reaction rate. In reality, only a small
fraction of the collisions are effective collisions. Effective collisions are those that result in a
chemical reaction.

In order to produce an effective collision, reactant particles must possess some minimum
amount of energy. This energy, used to initiate the reaction, is called the activation energy.
For every sample of reactant particles there will be some that possess this amount of energy.
The larger the sample, the greater the number of effective collisions, and the faster the rate of
reaction. The number of particles possessing enough energy is dependent on the temperature
of the reactants. If reactant particles do not possess the required activation energy when they
collide, they bounce off each other without reacting.

Some chemical reactions also require that the reactant particles be in a particular orientation
to produce an effective collision. Unless the reactant particles possess this orientation when
they collide, the collision will not be an effective one. The reaction of ozone with nitrogen
monoxide is an example of how orientation can be important.

To summarize, the requirements for an effective collision (for a chemical reaction to occur):

1. The reactants must collide with each other.

2. The molecules must have sufficient energy to initiate the reaction

(called activation energy).

3. The molecules must have the proper orientation.

Ways to Influence the Rate of a Reaction

Five of the most common ways to influence the rate of reaction can be explained using
collision theory. They are:

1. changing the nature of the reactants

2. changing the concentration of one or more of the reactants
3. changing the temperature at which a reaction is performed
4. changing the surface area of a solid reactant
5. adding a catalyst

In order to experimentally determine the effect of each of these changes, it is necessary to

perform at least two experiments in which all but one variable is held constant and then
compare the resulting reaction rates.

The rate of a reaction can be determined by measuring the rate at which the reactants
disappear or the rate at which the products form. The process is simple if one of the products
is a gas. The faster the gas is produced, the faster the rate of reaction. Consider the example of
hydrogen peroxide decomposition before reading further. Similar comparisons can be made
for other reactions in which one of the products or reactants is colored. In this case, the rate of
color appearance or disappearance gives us information about the reaction rate.