An industrial chemical process relies on a heterogeneous catalyst to control the rate of a gas-phase reaction. The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of molecular energies for the reactant mixture at a constant temperature T T\,T is shown below, with Ea(catalyzed)E_{\text{a}}(\text{catalyzed})Ea(catalyzed) and Ea(uncatalyzed)E_{\text{a}}(\text{uncatalyzed})Ea(uncatalyzed) representing the activation energies for the catalyzed and uncatalyzed reaction pathways, respectively.
Which of the following statements correctly describes how the addition of the catalyst controls and accelerates the reaction rate at this temperature?
The catalyst provides an alternative pathway that shifts the peak of the Maxwell-Boltzmann curve to the right, thereby increasing the mean kinetic energy of the reacting molecules.
The catalyst increases the rate of reaction by increasing the overall collision frequency of the molecules, which is represented by the increased height of the distribution peak at a constant temperature.
The catalyst increases the proportion of molecules with kinetic energy greater than or equal to the activation energy by lowering the activation energy threshold from Ea(uncatalyzed)E_{\text{a}}(\text{uncatalyzed})Ea(uncatalyzed) to Ea(catalyzed)E_{\text{a}}(\text{catalyzed})Ea(catalyzed), without altering the shape of the distribution curve.
The catalyst lowers the activation energy to Ea(catalyzed)E_{\text{a}}(\text{catalyzed})Ea(catalyzed), which increases the total area under the curve and alters the overall enthalpy change (ΔH\Delta HΔH) of the reaction.