Collaborator: Professor Richard E. Powell, University of California, Berkeley. Produced
in cooperation with the Manufacturing Chemists' Association.
The film emphasizes that catalysts are typical chemical reactants, being unique
only in that catalysts are regenerated during the reaction. It demonstrates and interprets three simple catalyzed reactions: the decomposition of formic acid, using sulfuric acid as catalyst; the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, using pure platinum as catalyst; and the reaction between acidified benzidine and hydrogen peroxide using peroxidase in human blood as catalyst. Animation shows what takes place on the molecular level in a catalyzed reaction. Potential energy curves show the relationship between uncatalyzed and catalyzed reactions.