[ikershaw]

Hi. I have problems with the explanation of the following statement:

"The reversibility of chemical reactions can be explained by considering the activation energies of the forward and reverse reactions"

I can draw an energy profile diagram which shows the activation energy of both the forward and reverse reactions. I understand that the greater the activation energy the slower the rate of reaction, but explaining reversibility escapes me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Hunter2]

You compare the activation energies for back and forward reaction. The equilibrium will be on that side with lower activation energy.