Relationship Between Catalysts And Inhibitors

Catalysts and Inhibitors work by providing an alternative reaction pathway for the breaking and remaking of bonds in chemical reactions, changing the speed of the reaction. They are neither consumed in the reaction. Rather, they alter the amount of activation energy required. Different reactions require different catalysts, as well as different reactions require different inhibitors.
The reaction energy path controls the speed of the reaction. The molecules follow the path of least resistance, but this path may still require a lot of energy. The activation energy for the path could be high, making the reaction proceed at a slow rate. A reaction pathway can be changed by adding nonreacting compounds to the reaction mixture. These molecules can sometimes alter the pathway so the energy needed for reaction is …show more content…
One way of doing this is to provide an alternative way for the reaction to happen which has a lower activation energy. Adding a catalyst has exactly this effect on activation energy. A catalyst provides an alternative route for the reaction. This alternate route demonstrates a lower activation energy. Energy profile:

As catalysts become involved in collisions of the reactant molecules, less energy is required for the chemical change to take place. The molecular energy distribution remains unchanged, but a with the lower activation energy, a greater fraction of molecules will be above that energy and will therefore be able to react successfully. Therefore, more collisions have sufficient energy for reaction to occur. Consequently, the reaction rate increases.

Relative to the Collision Theory, as more molecules are bouncing into each other, more collisions in a system occur,. This grants a higher probability that the molecules will complete the reaction. The reaction will then happen faster(rate of that reaction will