What defines activation energy?

Activation energy is defined as the minimum amount of energy required to initiate a chemical reaction. This concept is crucial in understanding how reactions occur because even if the reactants have sufficient energy, they must overcome a specific energy barrier to transform into products. The activation energy allows reactants to reach a transition state, where old bonds may break and new bonds may form, facilitating the chemical change.

In a chemical reaction, the energy dynamics involve not just the energy it takes to break existing bonds or the total energy of the reactants. While these factors are related to the reaction process, they do not encapsulate the essential barrier that must be surpassed to initiate the reaction. Similarly, the energy released during a chemical reaction pertains to the energy change from reactants to products but does not pertain to the energy required to start the reaction itself. Understanding activation energy is fundamental in the study of kinetics and reaction mechanisms, highlighting the energy requirements for reactions to proceed.