Here, it is important to remember that when a chemical reaction commences, the reactants' molecules start to crash to yield the new species, the products. In such a way, when the temperature increases, such crashes become stronger and more repetitive as the molecules gain more energy to move faster and consequently ease the chemical change. Such crashes are directly related with the number of opportunities, say probabilities, the molecules have to crash and subsequently form the products.
The formula for gravitational potential energy is the mass*gravity*height. Therefore, the greater the distance from the ground, the higher the gravitational potential energy.
