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Mira Alex

How do I calculate the activation energy of a reverse reaction?

Aliayson  Follow

The Activation energy of a reverse reaction is the difference between the energy of the Activated complex and the energy of the products.

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Bill Bigos  Follow

Activation energy of a reaction is the energy required by which the molecules must collide to give a successful product. In energy profile diagram it is the difference in energy from the reactants to topmost peak of the graph.

Firstly, check if the reaction can be reversed or not.

During reverse reaction the product of the forward reaction are nowell the reactant and the reactant in the forward reaction are products.

Energy of activation is nothing but the difference in energy between the reactant and the top most tip of the energy profile diagram. So during reverse reaction(in terms of forward reaction) is the difference in energy between the energy of product and energy of the tip of the graph.

In exothermic the reverse reaction activation energy is more than forward reaction as energy of product is more below the energy of reactant. Whereas in endothermic reaction the opposite happens as energy of product is more than energy of reactant. As the basic nature of all compunds is to gain least energy and be most stable.

Don't forget to upvote if my answer helped you

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Ben Warmus  Follow

The forward reaction is an exothermic reaction as it has a negative enthalpy change, with energy given out to the surroundings.

To find the energy change in the opposite direction, you would add the energy given out by the system in addition to the existing activation energy.

59kJ + 23kJ = +82kJ for the reverse reaction, which is quite endothermic.

EDIT:

An energy time graph always helps with these kind of things:

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