ap chem kinetics review
The rate of a chemical reaction is determined by the nature of reactant particles, the surface area over which they can collide and have sufficient energy to form or break bonds, and other factors such as temperature, concentration of the reaction, and catalysts. Some reactions can be very slow, such as iron rusting, while others are very fast, like the explosion of a rocket during takeoff.
In order for a reaction to occur it must go from the original reactants through the activated complex to the final products. The process involves breaking many chemical bonds, which is very expensive in terms of energy. Fortunately, there are ways to decrease the activation energy of a reaction. One way is to increase the number of reactive molecules in a reaction mixture. Another is to use a catalyst, which can be a chemical substance or an enzyme. A catalyst lowers the activation energy by providing an alternative pathway for the reaction to proceed.
In this study guide a free-response question from the 2019 AP exam is broken down and discussed in detail to show you how to ace a kinetics question on the exam! Also, included is an ap chemistry kinetics review that contains each learning objective and essential knowledge statement with focused, aligned questions to help students understand exactly what College Board expects from them on the exam.
