Catalysts ________ of transition state.

• A. Do not affect energy
• B. Reduce energy (correct)
• C. Increase energy
• D. Change the number of reactants

Answer: (B)

A catalyst lowers the energy barrier the reactants must overcome to reach the transition state. It provides an alternative pathway with a lower-energy transition state, which speeds up the reaction. This reduction in activation energy affects the rate of both forward and reverse reactions but does not change the overall energy difference between reactants and products. So the catalyst reduces the energy of the transition state, not the number of reactants or the final energies.