Ammonia is an important ingredient in many fertilizers. The main process by which ammonia is made is the Haber process. In this
process, nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas are reacted to form ammonia at high temperatures. Which of the following most likely explains why this reaction is carried out at high temperature? Ammonia is unstable at room temperature.
High temperatures increase the activation energy of the reaction.
High temperatures make the gas molecules move more quickly.
The reaction becomes exothermic at high temperatures.
The best answer is "<span>High temperatures increase the activation energy of the reaction."
The Haber process is an exothermic reaction at room temperature. This means that the reaction actually favors the reverse reaction, especially when the temperature is increased. So why increase the reaction temperature?
The reason for this is that nitrogen is a very stable element. Therefore, more energy is needed to overcome the slow rate of reaction. So the reaction temperature must be low enough to favor a forward reaction, but high enough to speed up the reaction.</span>
