Question

Is it true that if you lower the energy of a substance/mixture/homogeneous solution that free radicals are easier to create and therefore molecules can recombine more easily? I may be way off concept here. Please let me know if this is far fetched science.

Answer 1

Modified by calmchessplayer:

Is it true that if you lower the energy of a substance/mixture/homogeneous solution that molecular bonds are easier to break and free radicals are easier to create and therefore molecules can recombine more easily? I may be way off concept here. Please let me know if this is far fetched science.

Answer 2

Generally not, no. The only way you can "lower the energy" of a substance without altering it would be to cool it. That will reduce the kinetic energy of the atoms and molecules in it. With less kinetic energy -- less motion -- it will be much less likely, not more, that a random high-energy collision will break a chemical bond.

Answer 3

ok yeah that makes sense I think i read some place of somebody using microwaves to heat stuff hot enough to create a fusion reactor or something they didn't succeed yet though. The science eludes me I'm just a curious chemist influenced by the media. Thanks for your time
--calmchessplayer

Answer 4

To lower the energy of a reaction is to lower your rate determining step. Say your trying to make the free radical between Cl-Cl and hv(H muu i believe its pronounced) will give you Cl* + Cl* that process may be more efficent that putting heat on it. Putting light (planks constant and MUU) on Cl2 is a more efficient less energy that putting extreme heat on Cl2. From situation to situation its going to change.

Answer 5

That makes sense I was asking this because there is a chemistry game out there on the internet that allows you to experiment with chemistry and the object of the game is to lower the energy i guess by lowering the energy people have been creating substances not yet developed. I'm sure there are other rules to those game but I haven't played the game much yet its in my favorites...on a diffrent machine I'm sure google will return results if anybody intrested.