The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curve below shows the molecular kinetic energies in a gas-phase reaction at a constant temperature TTT.
An industrial chemist introduces a heterogeneous catalyst to control the rate of this reaction. Which of the following statements correctly explains how the catalyst increases the reaction rate, referencing the distribution and the molecular-level mechanism?
The catalyst provides an alternative reaction pathway with a lower activation energy, EcatE_{\text{cat}}Ecat. Consequently, a larger fraction of molecules (represented by the area under the curve to the right of EcatE_{\text{cat}}Ecat) have energy greater than or equal to this activation energy, leading to a higher frequency of successful collisions.
The catalyst transfers thermal energy to the reactant molecules, shifting the peak of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curve to the right, which increases the average kinetic energy of the system so that more molecules can exceed EaE_{\text{a}}Ea.
The catalyst forms permanent covalent bonds with the reactants at the active sites, which permanently stabilizes the transition state at a lower energy EcatE_{\text{cat}}Ecat and prevents catalyst poisoning.
The catalyst increases the collision frequency solely by physically trapping reactants to increase local concentration at its surface, which shifts the activation energy barrier from EaE_{\text{a}}Ea to EcatE_{\text{cat}}Ecat without altering the chemical pathway of the reaction.