with correct orientation

In order to break the bonds that are no longer needed, and to form the bonds that are required for the product, the position of the particles is important.

The illustration shows two different ways that H₂ and Cl₂ can collide:

In the first example, the chlorine on the right and the hydrogen on the left will be able to bond, but the chlorine on the left and the hydrogen on the right are not together and will not be able to bond. This collision will NOT work.



In the second example, both hydrogen atoms and chlorine atoms are together and will be able to forms the bonds needed for the products.




The consequence of this is that anything that makes collisions more likely to have the correct orientation will increase the rate of the reaction.


In addition, when comparing two different reactions, the one that requires simpler collisions or more easily oriented collisions will occur faster. This is affected by certain types of catalysts and by the nature of reactants.