The central idea of the collision model is that molecules must collide in order to react. Give two reasons why not all collisions of reactant molecules result in product formation.

Short Answer

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Not all collisions between reactant molecules result in product formation due to two primary reasons: \(1)\) Insufficient collision energy, where the colliding molecules do not possess enough energy to overcome the activation energy barrier, and \(2)\) Inappropriate collision geometry, where the reactant molecules fail to collide with the correct orientation for the necessary bonds to be broken and new bonds to be formed.

Step by step solution

01

Reason 1: Insufficient Collision Energy

One reason why not all collisions of reactant molecules result in product formation is due to insufficient collision energy. When two molecules collide, they need to possess a minimum amount of energy, known as the activation energy, to break the existing chemical bonds and form new ones. If the colliding molecules do not have enough energy to overcome this activation energy barrier, the reaction will not occur, and the molecules will simply bounce off each other without any chemical change.
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Reason 2: Inappropriate Collision Geometry

Another reason why not all collisions result in product formation is the inappropriate collision geometry. For a chemical reaction to occur, the reactant molecules must collide with the correct orientation, allowing the reacting atoms to come into contact upon colliding. If the molecules collide with an incorrect orientation, the reaction will not take place, even if the collision energy is greater than the activation energy. This is because the necessary bonds cannot be broken and new bonds cannot be formed due to the misalignment of the reacting atoms. In conclusion, not all collisions between reactant molecules result in product formation due to two primary reasons: insufficient collision energy and inappropriate collision geometry. Understanding these factors is essential for comprehending the collision model as well as predicting and controlling the rates of chemical reactions.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

You and a coworker have developed a molecule that has shown potential as cobra antivenin (AV). This antivenin works by binding to the venom (V), thereby rendering it nontoxic. This reaction can be described by the rate law $$ \text { Rate }=k[\mathrm{AV}]^{1}[\mathrm{~V}]^{1} $$ You have been given the following data from your coworker: $$ \begin{aligned} [\mathrm{V}]_{0} &=0.20 \mathrm{M} \\ [\mathrm{AV}]_{0} &=1.0 \times 10^{-4} \mathrm{M} \end{aligned} $$ A plot of \(\ln [\mathrm{AV}]\) versus \(t\) (s) gives a straight line with a slope of \(-0.32 \mathrm{~s}^{-1}\). What is the value of the rate constant \((k)\) for this reaction?

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