Temperature Dependence of Reaction Rate and Arrhenius Equation
We know that the kinetic energy of a gas is directly proportional to its temperature. Thus as the temperature of a system is increased, more and more molecules will acquire necessary energy greater that Ea to cause productive collisions.
This increases the rate of the reaction. In 1889, Arrhenius suggested as simple relationship between the rate constant, k, for a reaction and the temperature of the system
This is called the Arrhenius equation in which Ais an experimentally determined quantity, Ea is the activation energy, Ris the gas constant, and Tis Kelvin temperature.
Taking natural logs of each side of the Arrhenius equation, it can be put in a more useful form :
Arrhenius equation is valuable because it can be used to calculate the activation energy, Ea if the experimental value of the rate constant, k, is known.
