Understanding Chemical Reactions with Arrhenius' Theory

Arrhenius was a Swedish chemist who introduced the concept of activation energy in 1889. He proposed that chemical reactions occur when the reactants collide with each other with sufficient energy to overcome the bond between the reactants. This energy, known as the activation energy, is required for the reaction to proceed.

Arrhenius' theory explained why some reactions are slower than others and why certain reactions do not occur at all, even though the reactants are present. He also introduced the concept of the rate constant, which is a measure of the frequency of successful collisions between the reactants.

The Arrhenius equation relates the rate constant to the temperature of the system:

k = Ae^(-Ea/RT)

where k is the rate constant, A is a frequency factor, Ea is the activation energy, R is the gas constant, and T is the temperature in Kelvin. This equation shows that as the temperature increases, the rate constant also increases, which means that the reaction becomes faster.