Question

3)In general, explain how a chemical reaction would be affected by adding a catalyst. Use the following terms in your description: catalyst, activation energy, and rate of reaction.

Answer 1

A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a reaction, but is chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction. When the reaction has finished, you would have exactly the same mass of catalyst as you had at the beginning.

A word of caution!

Be very careful if you are asked about this in an exam. The correct form of words is

"A catalyst provides an alternative route for the reaction with a lower activation energy."

It does not "lower the activation energy of the reaction". There is a subtle difference between the two statements that is easily illustrated with a simple analogy.

Suppose you have a mountain between two valleys so that the only way for people to get from one valley to the other is over the mountain. Only the most active people will manage to get from one valley to the other.

Now suppose a tunnel is cut through the mountain. Many more people will now manage to get from one valley to the other by this easier route. You could say that the tunnel route has a lower activation energy than going over the mountain.

But you haven't lowered the mountain! The tunnel has provided an alternative route but hasn't lowered the original one. The original mountain is still there, and some people will still choose to climb it.

In the chemistry case, if particles collide with enough energy they can still react in exactly the same way as if the catalyst wasn't there. It is simply that the majority of particles will react via the easier catalysed route.
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/basicrates/catalyst.html