A chemist has two compounds that do not chemically react. He thinks that by finding the right catalyst, he can get them to react. Why is the chemist incorrect?

Question

A chemist has two compounds that do not chemically react. He thinks that by finding the right catalyst, he can get them to react. Why is the chemist incorrect?

Only an inhibitor can cause two compounds to react.
The activation energy of the reaction is already zero.
A catolyst cannot increase the concentration of reactants
Catalysts con only increase the rate of reaction for compounds that do react.

Answer 1

Catalysts are substances that can increase the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy required for the reaction to occur. However, catalysts cannot induce a reaction between two compounds that do not chemically react with each other. In other words, catalysts can only accelerate the rate of a reaction that is already possible without their presence. Therefore, the chemist is incorrect in thinking that they can get the two non-reacting compounds to react by finding the right catalyst.