Can you speed up a reaction without heating it?
Drop a whole fizzy vitamin tablet into water and time it, then try a crushed one. The powder finishes much sooner, though it’s the same amount. Reactions happen where particles meet: on the surface. Cut a 2 cm cube into eight 1 cm cubes. How much surface is there now?
Asked by calcali
1 answer
8 × 6 × 1 × 1 = 48 cm², double the surface. Grind it to a powder and the surface becomes enormous, so many more particles collide every second. A higher concentration, a higher temperature or a catalyst speed reactions up too.
by calcali