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23: Barrier Crossing and Activated Processes

  • Page ID
    294373
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    "Rare but important events"

    clipboard_e9a82f967bb4066fba5b151ca2a155b3f.png

    The rates of chemical reaction are obtained by calculating the forward flux of reactant molecules passing over the transition state, i.e. the time rate of change of concentration, population, or probability for reactants passing over the transition state.

    \[ \langle J^‡_f \rangle = dP^‡_R/dt \] ‡

    • 23.1: Transition State Theory
      Transition state theory is an equilibrium formulation of chemical reaction rates that originally comes from classical gas-phase reaction kinetics.
    • 23.2: Kramers’ Theory
      In our treatment the motion of the reactant over the transition state was treated as a free transitional degree of freedom. This ballistic or inertial motion is not representative of dynamics in soft matter at room temperature. Kramers’ theory is the leading approach to describe diffusive barrier crossing. It accounts for friction and thermal agitation that reduce the fraction of successful barrier crossings.


    This page titled 23: Barrier Crossing and Activated Processes is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Andrei Tokmakoff via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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