Sisyphus to be a mythological being that wasa very evil king. As a punishment for his misdoings,he was an alleged to role a big stone up to the optimal of a long hill. A spell had actually been inserted on the rock so that it would roll ago down before reaching the top, never ever to finish the task. Sisyphus was condemned to an forever of trying to obtain to the top of the hill, but never succeeding.

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Potential power Diagrams

The energy changes that occur during a bsci-ch.orgical reaction deserve to be presented in a diagram called a potential power diagram, or sometimes dubbed a reaction progress curve. A potential energy diagram shows the adjust in potential energy of a mechanism as reactants are converted into products. The figure below shows straightforward potential power diagrams for an endothermic (A) and an exothermic (B) reaction. Recall the the enthalpy readjust (left( Delta H ight)) is optimistic for one endothermic reaction and negative for an exothermic reaction. This deserve to be checked out in the potential power diagrams. The total potential energy of the system increases for the endothermic reaction together the system absorbs power from the surroundings. The full potential energy of the device decreases for the exothermic reaction together the system releases energy to the surroundings.

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Figure (PageIndex1): A potential power diagram mirrors the full potential energy of a reacting system as the reaction proceeds. (A) In an endothermic reaction, the power of the assets is better than the power of the reactants and also (Delta H) is positive. (B) In one exothermic reaction, the power of the commodities is reduced than the energy of the reactants and (Delta H) is negative. (CC BY-NC; CK-12)

The activation energy for a reaction is portrayed in the potential power diagram by the height of the hill between the reactants and the products. For this reason, the activation energy of a reaction is periodically referred to together the activation power barrier. Reaction particles must have actually enough power so that as soon as they collide, they have the right to overcome that obstacle (see figure below).

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Figure (PageIndex2): The activation energy (left( E_a ight)) the a reaction is the barrier that must be conquer for the reactants to be able to become products. (A) The activation energy is low, meaning that the reaction is likely to it is in fast.

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(B) The activation power is high, an interpretation that the reaction is likely to it is in slow. (CC BY-NC; CK-12)