Explain, in detail, how catalysts change the rate of a reaction.

Question

Explain, in detail, how catalysts change the rate of a reaction.

Answer 1

I'm not sure what is meant by "in detail", but catalysts change the rate of reaction by lowering the energy of activation.  They do so not by actually lowering the energy of activation of the particular reaction, but rather they provide an "alternate" pathway, or alternate "mechanism" which has a lower energy of activation than the original reaction.