Molecules bounce around a flat chamber with speeds set by temperature. When two reactant (blue) molecules collide with combined kinetic energy above the activation energy Ea, they convert to product (orange), per Arrhenius kinetics.
k = A * exp(-Ea / (R*T)) (Arrhenius equation)
P(react | collision) = exp(-Ea / (R*T))
v_rms proportional to sqrt(T)
- Temperature - raises average molecular speed (visible as faster-moving dots) and raises the reaction probability per collision via the Arrhenius factor.
- Activation energy Ea - the energy barrier collisions must clear; higher Ea makes reaction far less likely at a given temperature.
- Molecule count - more molecules means more collisions per second and faster overall conversion.
- Reset reaction - restores all molecules to reactant (blue) state to rerun the experiment.
Real-world application: this Arrhenius collision picture underlies why reactions speed up dramatically with temperature and why catalysts (which lower Ea) can turn a slow reaction into a fast one at the same temperature.