Which statement about a catalyst is true?

• A. It accelerates a reaction without being consumed
• B. It is consumed in the reaction
• C. It determines the integrated rate law
• D. It always raises the temperature

Answer: (A)

A catalyst works by providing an alternative reaction pathway with a lower activation energy, so more collisions lead to product without needing extra energy. This speeds up the reaction because the rate constant effectively increases, making the reaction go faster while the catalyst itself is not consumed by the overall process. After the reaction, the catalyst is regenerated in the same amount it started with, so its quantity doesn’t change.

It doesn’t raise the temperature by itself, and it doesn’t inherently fix the integrated rate law in all cases. The rate law and its integrated form depend on the mechanism and the steps that limit the rate; a catalyst can change the mechanism and the apparent rate constants, but that doesn’t mean it always determines the integrated rate law.