Background: A catalyst works by providing a lower energy pathway from reactants to products. The use of a catalyst involves intermediate reactions which have lower activation complexes than the original reaction. On a simplified reaction energy diagram, this can be thought of as lowering the activation energy for a given transformation. If the activation energy of a reaction is decreased, more collisions will have enough energy to overcome this lower barrier, so the reactant-to-product transformation will occur more frequently. As a result, the overall reaction rate will be higher than for an identical reaction with a larger activation energy barrier.

Situation: A chemist is working in the lab with two beakers, beaker R and beaker T, filled with identical solutions. In her experiment, she is going to pour one liquid into beaker R and the same amount of a different liquid into beaker T. After pouring the liquid into beaker R, there is no noticeable change. Pouring the liquid into beaker T, she observes a change in the liquid.

Question: Which beaker had a reactant poured into it?
Answer: beaker T

Situation: A chemist is working in the lab with two beakers, beaker R and beaker T, filled with identical solutions. In her experiment, she is going to pour one liquid into beaker R and the same amount of a different liquid into beaker T. After pouring the liquid into beaker R, there is no noticeable change. Pouring the liquid into beaker T, she observes a change in the liquid.

Question: Which beaker did not have a reactant poured into it?
Answer: beaker R

Situation: A chemist is working in the lab with two beakers, beaker R and beaker T, filled with identical solutions. In her experiment, she is going to pour one liquid into beaker R and the same amount of a different liquid into beaker T. After pouring the liquid into beaker R, there is no noticeable change. Pouring the liquid into beaker T, she observes a change in the liquid.

Question: The reaction in which beaker has a higher activation energy?
Answer: beaker R

Situation: A chemist is working in the lab with two beakers, beaker R and beaker T, filled with identical solutions. In her experiment, she is going to pour one liquid into beaker R and the same amount of a different liquid into beaker T. After pouring the liquid into beaker R, there is no noticeable change. Pouring the liquid into beaker T, she observes a change in the liquid.

Question: The reaction in which beaker has a lower activation energy?
Answer: beaker T

Situation: A chemist is working in the lab with two beakers, beaker R and beaker T, filled with identical solutions. In her experiment, she is going to pour one liquid into beaker R and the same amount of a different liquid into beaker T. After pouring the liquid into beaker R, there is no noticeable change. Pouring the liquid into beaker T, she observes a change in the liquid.

Question: Which beaker has a higher reaction rate?
Answer: beaker T

Situation: A chemist is working in the lab with two beakers, beaker R and beaker T, filled with identical solutions. In her experiment, she is going to pour one liquid into beaker R and the same amount of a different liquid into beaker T. After pouring the liquid into beaker R, there is no noticeable change. Pouring the liquid into beaker T, she observes a change in the liquid.

Question: Which beaker has a lower reaction rate?
Answer: beaker R