Video Transcript
Why is vanadium(V) oxide used as an
industrial catalyst for the conversion of SO2 to SO3? (A) More SO3 is produced every
hour. (B) The SO3 produced has a higher
purity. (C) The vanadium(V) oxide is
unchanged at the end of the conversion. (D) The metal oxide catalyst
neutralizes the acidic SO3 gas. Or (E) the catalyst increases the
overall final yield of SO3.
Catalysts can speed up a chemical
reaction because they determine the size of the activation energy barrier. We should understand that the
activation energy is the minimum energy reactants need to turn into products. Reactant particles need less energy
to turn into chemical products in the presence of a positive catalyst.
The figure is an energy level
diagram, and it has two lines and two axes. It will help us to understand how a
catalytic material affects the energetics of a chemical reaction process. Its 𝑦-axis shows energy, and its
𝑥-axis shows the progress of a chemical reaction. We should notice that reactants are
on the left side of the figure and products are on the right side.
The reactant particles need less
energy to react and produce products when interacting with the catalytic
substance. This is because the activation
energy barrier is lower when the reactants interact in the presence of the
catalyst. Catalytic materials can effectively
lower an activation energy barrier because they enable the formation of products
through an otherwise inaccessible reaction pathway.
A catalyzed reaction occurs more
rapidly than an uncatalyzed one because it has a lower activation energy
barrier. The reaction generates a higher
amount of product per unit time in the presence of a catalyst as less energy is
required for the same reaction.
In the reaction given in the
question, the product is SO3. Thus, vanadium oxide is used as an
industrial catalyst for the conversion of SO2 to SO3 as more SO3 is produced every
hour. Thus, the correct answer is answer
choice (A).
