Catalysts are substances that can help speed up chemical reactions. They make it easier for reactions to happen quickly but often, people don’t fully understand how they work.

Firstly, it’s important to know that catalysts don’t change the end results of a reaction. They help reactions reach a balance, called equilibrium, faster. But they don’t affect where that balance lies, which can be annoying when you're trying to improve a reaction.

Challenges:

• Catalysts lower the energy needed to start a reaction. This means reactions can reach equilibrium faster, but the amounts of chemicals involved stay the same.

• Because of this, the equilibrium constant— a number that tells us about the balance of the reaction—stays unchanged. This can make it hard to adjust or control reactions the way you want.

Solutions:

• By learning how catalysts really work, you can plan your reactions better and get the results you want.

• Also, using temperature or changing the amounts of chemicals together with catalysts can help improve the outcomes of reactions.