What is a catalyst?
A catalyst is a material used to initiate or accelerate a chemical reaction, while not itself being consumed in the reaction. Catalysts are used widely in industry to reduce the cost of producing chemicals. They are essential for the production of clean fuels, such as low-sulphur gasoline and hydrogen gas for fuel cells.
A Catalyst is any substance that works to accelerate a chemical reaction. Catalysts can be organic, synthetic or metal. The process by which the catalyst speeds up or slows a reaction is called catalysis. For any process to occur, energy, known as activation energy is required . Without the help of a catalyst the amount of energy needed to spark a particular reaction is high. When the catalyst is present the activation energy is lowered making the reaction happen more efficiently. The catalyst generally works by either changing the structure of a molecule or by bonding to reactant molecules causing them to combine, react and release a product or energy. For example, a catalyst is required for oxygen and hydrogen gases to combine and form water. Without the help of a catalyst, chemical reactions might never occur or take a significantly longer period of time to react. When the chemical reaction occurs, the catalyst itself is not changed and is not part of the end result. Most times the
A catalyst decreases the activation energy of a chemical reaction. Catalysts participate in reactions but are neither reactants nor products of the reaction they catalyze. An exception is the process of autocatalysis where the product of a reaction helps to accelerate the same reaction. They work by providing an alternative pathway for the reaction to occur, thus reducing the activation energy and increasing the reaction rate. More generally, one may at times call anything that accelerates a reaction, without itself being consumed or changed, a “catalyst” (for example, a “catalyst for political change”).
