For a reaction to occur, the particles that are reacting must collide with each other. Only some of all the collisions that take place cause a chemical change to happen. These are called 'successful' ...

Electric fields arise spontaneously at the surface of solid catalysts immersed in liquids, and this common yet largely overlooked phenomenon directly affects the rates of a large class of reactions.

A catalyst increases the rate of a reaction but it is not used up in the reaction. If a catalyst is present, the reacting particles can collide more successfully with less energy and so the reaction ...