Chapter 20, Problem 6TE

What two aspects of a collision between two reactant molecules determine whether or not the collision results in the formation of product molecules?

To determine

The aspects of collision between two molecules which govern whether the collision results in the formation of product molecules or not.

Answer to Problem 6TE

The two aspects of collisions of reactants resulting into product is the activation energy of the particular reaction and the perfect orientation of the collision.

Explanation of Solution

The process of the conversion of reactant species into the product species is called a chemical reaction.

The chemical species are in a random motion during a reaction process and show continuous collisions of the reacting species to form the product species.

The collisions of reacting molecules must have;

1) The proper orientation of the reacting molecules.

2) A sufficient amount of energy to overcome the amount of activation energy.

Thus there are two aspects of collisions; the one is activation energy and another one is perfect orientation.

Only the collisions which satisfy the above condition will form the product molecules and rest all collisions are wasted. Thus, if these two conditions are perfect then only the reactant molecule is converted into the product molecule.

Conclusion:

Therefore, two aspects of collisions of reactants resulting into product is the activation energy of the particular reaction and the perfect orientation of the collision.