What do catalysts do in a chemical reaction?

• A. Increase activation energy
• B. Decrease activation energy
• C. Speed up by absorbing energy
• D. Change the products

Answer: (B)

Catalysts work by lowering the energy barrier that must be overcome for a reaction to occur. They provide an alternative pathway with a smaller activation energy, often by stabilizing the transition state or bringing reactants into a favorable arrangement. Because this lower barrier means more molecules have enough energy to react at a given temperature, the reaction speeds up. The overall products and energy change of the reaction don’t change, and the catalyst is not consumed in the process. Increasing activation energy would slow the reaction, and catalysts don’t make reactions absorb energy or produce different products.