Home▸Chemistry & Materials▸Activation Energy and Collision Theory

🧪 Activation Energy and Collision Theory

An interactive 3D particle box where temperature and concentration sliders change collision frequency, letting you watch which collisions clear the activation-energy barrier on a live energy diagram.

Chemistry & Materials2DModerate60 FPS

A 3D box of molecules bouncing at speeds set by temperature — each collision is checked against an activation-energy barrier, and only the energetic minority flash gold and "react" while the rest just bounce off.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

Only collisions whose kinetic energy along the line of centres clears the activation energy Ea can react. Raising temperature widens the speed distribution and pushes more collisions over the barrier, without much changing the collision frequency itself.

🎮 How to Use

Adjust temperature, concentration and Ea, and toggle a catalyst to open a lower-energy pathway. Watch the live energy diagram plot each collision as a green (success) or red (failed) dot against the Ea line.

💡 Did You Know?

The Arrhenius equation shows reaction rate depends exponentially on -Ea/RT — which is why a modest temperature rise can double or triple a reaction rate even though average molecular speed barely changes.

⚙ Under the hood

Interactive 3D particle box where temperature and concentration sliders change collision frequency, letting users watch which collisions clear the activation-energy barrier on a live energy diagram.

activation-energycollision-theoryreaction-kineticschemistrymolecular-collisionsenergy-diagram

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install