COLLISION THEORY &

CHEMICAL REACTION RATES

• IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER:

– A chemical reaction gives rise to new

substances.
– During a chemical reaction, bonds are broken
and/or formed.
– Chemical reactions occur at different rates.
The Collision Theory
• The collision theory is based on the
assumption that for a reaction to occur, it is
necessary for the reacting particles (atoms
or molecules) to come together or collide
with one another.
• The rate of the reaction depends on the
frequency of collisions.
• NOT all collisions, however, BRING ABOUT
chemical change.
• There are two things that must be satisfied
for a successful collision to occur:
• SHORT ACTIVITY.
• Table of Data.

No. of Successful
Collisions (out of 5 trials)

A. Case 1 (2 students)
B. Case 2 (3 students)
C. Case 3 (4 students)
D. Case 4 (5 students)
For a successful collision,

the reacting particles must collide with

sufficient energy

the reacting particles must collide with the

proper orientation
What are the 2 things that might occur after the
formation of an activated complex?
• Activated complex
– or transition state, is an unstable
arrangement of atoms that forms
momentarily at the energy peak of the
reaction path
– it either has enough energy to (a)
proceed forward to become products, or, (b)
could reverse to become reactants again.
 Reaction Mechanism
• Consider the reaction –
2C2H2 + 5O2 → 4CO2 + 2H2O
• From the equation, 2 moles of C2H2 react
with 5 moles of oxygen.
• According to the Collision Theory, for this
reaction to take place, molecules must
collide. But it is highly unlikely that 7
molecules would collide altogether at once.
• Certain reactions most likely occur in a
series of simple steps that requires only
two or three molecules colliding at any one
instant.

• These steps cannot always actually be

observed but they have been predicted to
occur (by chemists).
Reaction Mechanism
• Example:
2NO + O2 → 2NO2
• This reaction is found to occur in two steps –
Step 1: 2NO → N2O2
Step 2: N2O2 + O2 → 2NO2
Reaction Mechanism

• The overall reaction is the sum of all the

reactions added together.
• REMEMBER:
* One CANNOT derive the reaction
mechanism from a chemical equation.

ELEMENTARY REACTION – one in

which the reactants are converted to
products in a single step.
• Reaction intermediate
– an unstable molecule that is produced in a step
in the reaction mechanism and is then used as a
reactant in the next step
– is short-lived
Going back to the reaction mechanism for the
formation of NO2, which is the reaction
intermediate?
What is the difference between a reaction
intermediate and an activated complex?
 Reaction Progress Curve
(Energy Diagram)
• A reaction progress curve is a diagram
that shows the path of a reaction (or the
mechanism of the reaction).
Activated complex

Reaction Intermediate

Reaction Progress →
• Regardless of how many steps there are in the
reaction, certain facts are always true about an energy
diagram:
a. the number of steps is equal to the number of
transition states (activated complexes)
b. the number of intermediates is one less than the
number of steps
c. the transition state having the highest absolute
energy corresponds to the slowest step in the reaction;
this is not necessarily the step with the highest
activation energy
• Video

• Activation Energy – the minimum amount

of energy required to initiate a reaction.
• Answer the questions below:

→
a. How many steps are Reaction
there inProgress
the reaction?
b. How many activated complexes? Reaction intermediates?
c. Which of the steps is/are endothermic? Exothermic?
• Given below is a reaction mechanism with some
additional information concerning the relative rates
of each of the individual steps:
STEP 1: HBr + O2 → HOOBr (slow)
STEP 2: HOOBr + HBr → 2HOBr (fast)
STEP 3: HOBr + HBr → H2O + Br2 (fast)
STEP 4: HOBr + HBr → H2O + Br2 (fast)

• What is the overall equation for the reaction?

• Would you consider the overall reaction to be fast
or slow?
• Which is the rate-determining step for the reaction?
• RATE DETERMINING STEP (RDS) – the
slowest step of a reaction mechanism on
which the overall rate of any reaction
depends.
• This step is the one that should be focused
on if one wants to speed up a reaction.
Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions
• ENDOTHERMIC REACTIONS
– these are reactions that absorb energy (heat)
from the surroundings
– non-spontaneous (does not start until there is
input of energy first)
– potential energy of reactant is lower than that of
the products
– ∆H (energy change) is positive
– examples:
• REACTIONS: N2(g) + O2(g) + 43 kcal -----> 2 NO(g) ,
electrolysis
• PROCESSES: melting ice or salts, evaporating water
• EXOTHERMIC REACTIONS
– these are reactions that release energy (heat) to
the surroundings
– spontaneous
– potential energy of reactant is higher than that of
the products
– ∆H (energy change) is negative
– examples:
• REACTIONS: CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + H2O + 213 kcal,
rusting, neutralization
Reaction Progress Curves