Which expression correctly describes activation energy in a chemical reaction?
a. heat released during reaction
b. energy barrier between reactants and products
c. energy given off when reactants collide
d. total amount of energy consumed by the reaction
could you answer this? & provide a little explanation why it's right? thanks so much!
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I believe it's B: energy barrier between reactants and products.
Activation energy is like the energy a reactant molecule needs to have in order to react successfully (and turn into a product), so it can be considered as a barrier a reactant needs to surpass in order to actually react. Like if a molecule doesn't have enough energy to overcome the 'barrier', it won't react.