An exothermic reaction has a forward activation energy of and releases a total heat of . What is the — Chemical Kinetics Chemistry Question
Question
An exothermic reaction $A \rightarrow B$ has a forward activation energy of $30 \text{ kJ/mol}$ and releases a total heat of $\Delta H = -20 \text{ kJ/mol}$. What is the absolute activation energy barrier for the reverse reaction $B \rightarrow A$?
Answer: C
💡 Solution & Explanation
Using the master relationship $\Delta H = E_{a(f)} - E_{a(b)}$, and carefully noting the negative sign for an exothermic reaction: $-20 = 30 - E_{a(b)}$. Isolating the unknown precisely yields $E_{a(b)} = 30 - (-20) = 50 \text{ kJ/mol}$.
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