26.1.6—Effect of temperature change on the rate

Increasing temperature raises the rate constant k because the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution has a greater fraction of particles with energy at least the activation energy.

The rate also depends on concentration and collision frequency, but the temperature effect on k is intrinsic to the energy barrier. A catalyst changes the barrier rather than temperature.

A small temperature increase can cause a large rate increase because the high-energy tail beyond Ea grows disproportionately.

Temperature does not merely make particles “move faster”; it changes the fraction successful enough to react.