Chemical reactions obey a relationship between reaction ratek and activation energy ΔG‡ that canbe written k =Qexp(-ΔG‡/RT) where Q is a constant characteristic of the reaction,R is the gas constant, 0.001986 kcal/(mol-deg), andT is the Kelvin temperature. The activation energyΔG‡ for a particular uncatalyzedreaction is 15 kcal/mol and the overall difference in energybetween reactants and products ΔG0 is0.
(a) By what factor will the reaction rate change if we increase thetemperature from 300K to 360K?
(b) An enzyme catalyzes the reaction so that the enzymatic reactionhas a ΔG‡ = 5 kcal/mol. By whatfactor will the reaction rate increase at 300K if we compare thecatalyzed reaction to the uncatalyzed reaction?
(c) What is the physical significance of the constant Q inthe front of this equation? (hint: what will k be forT >> R/ΔG‡)?