Sisyphus to be a mythological being that wasa very evil king. As a punishment because that his misdoings,he was supposed to roll a huge stone approximately the optimal of a long hill. A spell had been placed on the stone so the it would roll earlier down prior to reaching the top, never to finish the task. Sisyphus was condemned come an eternity of make the efforts to get to the optimal of the hill, however never succeeding.

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Potential power Diagrams

The energy alters that occur during a usmam.orgical reaction have the right to be shown in a diagram dubbed a potential energy diagram, or sometimes called a reaction development curve. A potential power diagram reflects the adjust in potential energy of a mechanism as reactants space converted into products. The figure below shows simple potential power diagrams because that an endothermic (A) and also an exothermic (B) reaction. Recall that the enthalpy adjust (left( Delta H ight)) is positive for one endothermic reaction and an adverse for one exothermic reaction. This deserve to be viewed in the potential energy diagrams. The full potential energy of the system rises for the endothermic reaction together the device absorbs energy from the surroundings. The total potential energy of the mechanism decreases for the exothermic reaction as the device releases power to the surroundings.

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Figure (PageIndex1): A potential energy diagram reflects the complete potential power of a reacting mechanism as the reaction proceeds. (A) In one endothermic reaction, the power of the assets is greater than the power of the reactants and (Delta H) is positive. (B) In an 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 shown in the potential power diagram by the height of the hill in between the reactants and the products. For this reason, the activation energy of a reaction is occasionally referred to together the activation power barrier. Reacting particles must have actually enough power so that once they collide, they deserve to overcome that obstacle (see number below).

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Figure (PageIndex2): The activation power (left( E_a ight)) of a reaction is the barrier that should be get rid of for the reactants to be able to become products. (A) The activation energy is low, an interpretation that the reaction is most likely to it is in fast.

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