---
title: "A student investigates the gas-phase reaction represented by the equation below in a rigid container.  \\[ 2\\text{ NOCl(g)} \\rightarrow 2\\text{ NO(g)} + \\text{Cl}_2\\text{(g)} \\]  When the temperature of the system is increased from \\(300\\text{ K}\\) to \\(310\\text{ K}\\), the initial rate of the reaction approximately doubles, while the total number of molecular collisions per second increases by only about \\(1.7\\%\\). Which of the following best explains why the reaction rate increases so substantially despite the minor increase in total collision frequency?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/121376/"
date_modified: "2026-08-23T05:01:58+00:00"
---

# A student investigates the gas-phase reaction represented by the equation below in a rigid container.

\[ 2\text{ NOCl(g)} \rightarrow 2\text{ NO(g)} + \text{Cl}_2\text{(g)} \]

When the temperature of the system is increased from \(300\text{ K}\) to \(310\text{ K}\), the initial rate of the reaction approximately doubles, while the total number of molecular collisions per second increases by only about \(1.7\%\). Which of the following best explains why the reaction rate increases so substantially despite the minor increase in total collision frequency?

A student investigates the gas-phase reaction represented by the equation below in a rigid container.

\[ 2\text{ NOCl(g)} \rightarrow 2\text{ NO(g)} + \text{Cl}_2\text{(g)} \]

When the temperature of the system is increased from \(300\text{ K}\) to \(310\text{ K}\), the initial rate of the reaction approximately doubles, while the total number of molecular collisions per second increases by only about \(1.7\%\). Which of the following best explains why the reaction rate increases so substantially despite the minor increase in total collision frequency?

- **A.** The rate increases primarily because the activation energy of the reaction decreases at the higher temperature, allowing more collisions to overcome the barrier.
- **B.** The rate increases primarily because the higher molecular speeds cause a much greater proportion of collisions to occur with the correct orientation.
- **C.** The rate increases primarily because the average kinetic energy of the reactant particles doubles, providing sufficient energy for nearly all collisions.
- **D.** The rate increases primarily because a significantly larger fraction of the reactant particles possess kinetic energy equal to or greater than the activation energy.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/121376/*