Consider an endothermic reaction, with the activation energies and for the backward and forward reactions, respectively. In general
- (A)✓ Correct
- (B)
- (C)
- (D)There is no definite relation between and
Answer: (A)
Solution
Picture the energy profile: the forward and backward activation barriers are measured from the reactant and product valleys up to the same transition-state peak, and their difference is the reaction enthalpy, . An endothermic reaction has , which means , so the forward barrier is the taller one and .
JEE Main · 2005 · 08 May 2005 · Offline · Single correct option