Worksheet – Arrhenius Equation

In order for molecules to react when they collide, they must possess a minimum
kinetic energy, called the activation energy. The reason that rates of reaction
increase with increasing temperature is not only that collisions become more
frequent as the average KE of the molecules increases but also that a higher
fraction of the reacting molecules has a KE higher than the activation energy.
The temperature dependence of k is given by the Arrhenius equation:
k = A exp(-Ea/RT) where A is the frequency factor ( a measure of the frequency
of effective collisions) and Ea is the activation energy, both of which are largely T
independent. R is the gas constant and T is the kelvin temperature. The
equation can be re-written in a linear form:
ln k = - Ea 1 + ln A  A plot of ln k vs 1/T (in K) gives a straight line
R T
 The slope is related to the activation energy, Ea

 The intercept is related to the frequency factor, A

Can be further expanded to give:

ln k2 = Ea 1 - 1
k1 R T1 T2

1. Changing the temperature of a reaction from 273K to 300 K causes the

rate constant, k, to increase by a factor of seven. Calculate Ea for this
reaction (R = 8.314 J/mol K)

2. The uncoiling of DNA is a 1st order process with an activation energy of

about 420 kJ/mol. The half-time at 50oC is about 2 minutes. What is the
half-time at normal body temperature, 37oC?
 The potential energy of a system can be followed as the reaction proceeds
with a reaction coordinate, a plot of P.E. vs the position of all of the
reactants, products and intermediates in a reaction mechanism.

3. Shown below is a mechanism and its corresponding reaction coordinate

D step 1 H2C=CH2 + H+ + Cl- H3C-CH2 + Cl-

B

2
P.E.

step 2 H3C-CH2 + Cl-  H3C-CH2Cl

1 a. Which is the rate determining step?

A 3
b. Is this reaction endo or exothermic?
C

c. Which chemical species are present at A?

d. Which chemical species are present at B?

e. Which chemical species are present at C?

f. Which chemical species are present at D?

g. What PE change does arrow 1 represent?

h. What PE change does arrow 2 represent?

i. What PE change does arrow 3 represent?

j. What is the rate law for this reaction?

k. Is there a catalyst in this reaction? If so, what?

4. The mechanism for the reaction of 2-methylpropene (CH3)2C=CH3 is
converted to 2-methyl-2-propanol is shown below.

step 1 (CH3)2C=CH2 + H+  (CH3)2CCH3

step 2 (CH3)2CCH3 + H2O  (CH3)2 C(OH2)CH3

step 3 (CH3)2 C(OH2)CH3  (CH3)3COH + H+

a. What is the overall stoichiometry of this reaction?

b. What are the intermediates?

c. Is there a catalyst? If so, what is it?

d. What is the rate determining step? (assume that it involves the

catalyst)

e. What is the rate law for this reaction?

f. Which step has the highest Ea?

g. This is an exothermic reaction. Draw a representation of the reaction

coordinate for this three step process. Make sure that all of the
energy levels occupy the correct positions relative to each other on the
energy scale. (step 2 is slower than step 3)
P.E

reaction coordinate