the Maxwell Boltzmann distribution 5.2

What does the maxwell Boltzmann distribution tell us?

it tells us about the distribution of energy amongst the particles

-no particles have 0 energy
-most particles have intermediate energies-around the peak of the curve
-a few have very high energies
-Average energy is not the same as the most probable energy.

What are the features of the curve ?

The sample under the curve is equal to the total number of molecules in a sample.
The curve starts at the origin =there are no molecules in the system with zero energy .

Only molecules with and energy greater than the activation energy EA can react

Botlzman curve ,temperature

At higher temperature the kinetic energy of the molecules increases

The peak moves
To the right
Lower peak

The area under the curve remains the same time
The number of Molecules in the system remain the same .
area under curve beyond activation energy increases

What happens ?

The molecules are moving faster as they have more kinetic energy .
A greater proportion of molecules have an energy that is greater than the activation energy
More successful collisions occur in a given length of time
The rate of reaction will increase

What happens when we decrease temperature ?

Peak moves to the left
peak is higher
area under curve remains same
area under curve beyond activation energy decreases


a smaller proportion of the molecules will have energy greater than the activation energy