• Question: what is a catalyst

    Asked by path520hued on 12 Mar 2025. This question was also asked by rung520deet.
    • Photo: Abigail Frith

      Abigail Frith answered on 12 Mar 2025:

      A catalyst is something that is not used up in a reaction but helps to make the reaction more efficient by providing a surface or site for the reaction to take place

    • Photo: John Turner

      John Turner answered on 12 Mar 2025:

      A catalyst helps to speed up a reaction. The catalysts I work on help to remove harmful gases created by a petrol car engine into clean air which helps to improve the environment and people’s health.

    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 28 Apr 2025:

      Ostwald defined a catalyst as a substance that participates in a reaction and increases the rate of the reaction but is not consumed by the reaction. Today most chemists believe that catalysts provided alternative, lower energy, pathways that make the reaction faster.

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