How does the sensitivity to temperature changes compare between a high $E_a$ reaction and a low $E_a$ reaction?
Answer
The reaction with the higher $E_a$ is more sensitive, doubling its rate over a smaller temperature shift.
Because the rate depends exponentially on the inverse of $T$, the exponential term is more dramatically affected when the magnitude of the negative exponent (related to $E_a$) is larger, meaning higher $E_a$ reactions exhibit greater thermal sensitivity.
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