Nitrogen dioxide reacts with carbon monoxide in the gas phase to form nitrogen monoxide and carbon dioxide. A chemist studies the reaction in a closed vessel at an initial temperature of 300 K and then repeats the experiment at 330 K.
(a) For each temperature, describe qualitatively what a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution of molecular kinetic energies would look like. Identify the position of the most probable kinetic energy and discuss the relative spread of energies.
(b) In words and at the particulate level, explain why raising the temperature from 300 K to 330 K increases the rate of this elementary reaction, even though the concentrations of all species remain constant.
(c) The reaction is known to have a relatively high activation energy. Using your description from part (a), account for why only a small fraction of collisions at 300 K lead to reaction and why that fraction changes at 330 K.
(d) Beyond possessing sufficient kinetic energy, collisions between NO₂ and CO must have an effective orientation for bond rearrangement. Describe one specific orientation that would be effective and one that would be ineffective, and explain your reasoning in terms of bond formation and bond breakage.
a. Part (a)
b. Part (b)
c. Part (c)
d. Part (d)