What is the drawback of Collision Theory?

Collision Theory is used to explain and predict the rate of chemical reactions. It helps us understand why different reactions occur at different speeds and suggests ways to alter the reaction rate.

According to the theory, a chemical reaction occurs when reacting atoms or molecules collide with one another. However, for a collision to be productive, two conditions must be met:

1. The molecules must collide with sufficient kinetic energy.
2. They must collide with the proper orientation.

Several factors influence the collision process, including concentration, surface area, temperature, and the presence of a catalyst.

Limitations of Collision Theory:

• It is mainly applicable to simple gaseous reactions.
• The theory treats atoms and molecules as hard spheres, ignoring their actual structures.
• There is no way to calculate the steric factor for reactions whose rate constants are not known experimentally.
• Collision theory does not explain activation energy barriers, which arise as chemical bonds stretch and break during reactions.
• While it states that the reaction frequency is proportional to the total number of collisions per cubic centimeter per second, it fails to account for fast reactions where molecules react even with energy lower than the activation energy.