Questions: Why does every chemical reaction require a certain amount of activation energy? A. Energy is released when the reactants begin to react. B. Energy lost to the environment during the reaction must be replaced. C. Forming the activated complex requires energy. D. The products have more potential energy than the activated complex. E. The reactants have less potential energy than the products.

Why does every chemical reaction require a certain amount of activation energy?
A. Energy is released when the reactants begin to react.
B. Energy lost to the environment during the reaction must be replaced.
C. Forming the activated complex requires energy.
D. The products have more potential energy than the activated complex.
E. The reactants have less potential energy than the products.

Transcript text: Why does every chemical reaction require a certain amount of activation energy? A. Energy is released when the reactants begin to react. B. Energy lost to the environment during the reaction must be replaced. C. Forming the activated complex requires energy. D. The products have more potential energy than the activated complex. E. The reactants have less potential energy than the products.

Solution

Solution Steps

Step 1: Understanding Activation Energy

Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy required to initiate a chemical reaction. It is necessary to overcome the energy barrier that prevents reactants from transforming into products.

Step 2: Analyzing the Options

Option A: Energy is released when the reactants begin to react. This statement is true for exothermic reactions but does not explain why activation energy is needed.
Option B: Energy lost to the environment during the reaction must be replaced. This is not directly related to the concept of activation energy.
Option C: Forming the activated complex requires energy. The activated complex, or transition state, is a high-energy, unstable arrangement of atoms that occurs during the transformation from reactants to products. Energy is required to reach this state.
Option D: The products have more potential energy than the activated complex. This is incorrect because the activated complex is typically at a higher energy level than both reactants and products.
Option E: The reactants have less potential energy than the products. This is true for endothermic reactions but does not explain the need for activation energy.

Step 3: Selecting the Correct Answer

The correct explanation for why every chemical reaction requires a certain amount of activation energy is that energy is needed to form the activated complex.