MadSci Network: Chemistry |
Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of the molecules of a system. That is, if you increase the temperature of anything, the molecules that make up that thing speed up. Every chemical process or reaction requires molecules to collide in order for that reaction to proceed, and that collision needs to be fast enough to make it happen. Since temperature speeds up molecules, it speeds up chemical processes. All chemical processes are made faster with an increase in temperature. Of course this does not apply to the freezing or condensing of compounds. You can only speed up the freezing process by lowering the temperature.
Hope this helps.
Moderator's Note: Some reactions, particularly those dependent upon
catalysis by
enzymes, can be inhibited at higher temperature -- the high temperature
denatures the
enzymatic protein, so it can no longer perform its functions to lower the
activation energy of the reaction to proceed.
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Chemistry.