What are Catalysts?

Answer 1

They make reactions go faster. All chemical reactions have a "hill" to climb referred to as the activation energy before the reaction takes place. Some reactions have small "hills" some have large ones. A catalysts lowers the height on that "hill" if you will, so that the reaction can take place more rapidly.

Answer 2

In chemistry, a catalyst (Greek: καταλύτης, catalytēs) is a substance that decreases the activation energy of a chemical reaction (see also catalysis) without itself being changed at the end of the chemical reaction. Catalysts participate in reactions but are neither reactants nor products of the reaction they catalyse (a strange 'exception' is the process of autocatalysis). They work by providing an alternative pathway for the reaction to occur, thus reducing the activation energy and increasing the reaction rate. More generally, one may at times call anything that accelerates a reaction, without itself being consumed or changed, a "catalyst" (for example, a "catalyst for political change").

A promoter is an accelerator of catalysis, but not a catalyst by itself. An inhibitor inhibits the working of a catalyst.

Catalysts generally react with one or more reactants to form a chemical intermediate that subsequently reacts to form the final reaction product, in the process regenerating the catalyst. The following is a typical reaction scheme, where C represents the catalyst, A and B are reactants, D is the product of the reaction of A and B:

A + C → AC (1)

B + AC → ABC (2)

ABC → CD (3)

CD → C + D (4)

Although the catalyst (C) is consumed by reaction 1, it is subsequently produced by reaction 4, so for the overall reaction:

A + B + C → D + C

the catalyst is neither consumed nor produced.

Answer 3

a chemical which alters th rate of chemical reaction without itself being part of the products is a catalyst that is at the end of the reaction the catalyst will remain as it was before the start of the reaction

Answer 4

It is a chemical that causes a reaction, or speeds up a reaction, between other chemicals, without be a part of the new chemical composition.
The catalyst in an auto catalytic converter is platinum. It changes CO and NO into CO2 , N2, O2, but the platinum stays in the converter.

Answer 5

The catalysts are the reagents used to acclerate the reaction between chemicals in a reacion, but doesnt react with the main chemicals.It only supports the reaction

Answer 6

Catalysts are molecules which will accelerate a chemical reaction. For example, in paint we can add a catalyst so the paint will dry faster, other substances to harder faster etc.

Answer 7

Catalysts speed up a reaction without taking part in that reaction.

Answer 8

catalyst is a substance which can increase or decrease the rate of a reaction without itself undergoing any change.the one which increases the rate of reaction is called positive catalyst and the one which decreases the rate of a reaction is called negative catalyst.

Answer 9

catalyst is a chemical compound which starts reaction or the rate of the reaction increases

Answer 10

catalysts are chemical compounds that speeds up the rate of the chemical reaction without itself being chemically altered at the end of the reaction.

i hope this helped. :)