What is the activation energy for the reverse reaction in terms of the activation energy of the forward reaction and the enthalpy of reaction? Draw it out for an endothermic reaction.
1 Answer
Aug 3, 2016
This is asking you to draw a potential energy diagram for an endothermic reaction.
Recall that
(Energy increases from bottom to top.)
Since...
- the activation energy for the forward reaction is the difference in energy between the reactant(s) (left) and the transition state (hill)
- the enthalpy of reaction is the difference in energy between the product(s) (right) and reactant(s) (left)
...the activation energy of the reverse reaction is just the difference in energy between the product(s) (right) and the transition state (hill).
Thus, for this endothermic reaction,