1. As temperature increases, particles move around faster (have more kinetic energy).
2. This means they will collide more frequently.
3. They will also collide with more energy, so the collision is more likely have enough energy to react successfully (activation energy).

The spread of molecular energies in gases.

Energy

Number of molecules (with a given energy)

When temperature is increased, the peak of the Boltzmann distribution curve is lower and shifted to the right. The total area under the curve remains the same.

The total number of gas molecules is equal to the area under the curve.

1. The curve originates at the origin, indicating that no molecules have zero kinetic energy.
2. It rises sharply to a peak that represents the most common kinetic energy level among the molecules, before gradually decreasing.
3. The total area under the curve is equivalent to the total number of molecules.
4. The peak of the curve shows the most probable kinetic energy a single molecule can have.
5. On average, the kinetic energy of all molecules is a bit higher than the peak energy.

A small increase in temperature shifts the Boltzmann distribution curve to the right. This shift indicates that both the rate of collisions and the proportion of collisions that lead to successful reactions increase with temperature. Therefore, even a modest rise in temperature can lead to a significant increase in the rate of reaction.