Question

In an exothermic reaction:

Answer 1

Answer:

D. the forward reaction will have a lower activation energy than the reverse reaction.

Explanation:

An exothermic reaction is one which is accompanied by the release of heat energy. In this case the products have a lower energy than that of the reactants.

Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy required to initial or start a chemical reaction. In exothermic reactions, the reactants are at a higher energy (relative to the products) to begin with. Hence, they would require a lower activation energy to overcome the energy barrier in order to form the products.