Why is it that in gaseous reactions the collision frequency between molecules is far greater than...

Why is it that in gaseous reactions, the collision frequency between molecules is far greater than the rate at which molecules react? :S

Thanks! :)))))

molecules are constantly colliding into one another because they 'move' around a lot. but in order for a reaction to occur, 1) the molecules must have correct orientation and 2) enough energy to react.

they can keep bumping into one another but if these conditions are not met, nothing will happen

There are cases where this isn't true, and there are also extremely detailed explanations you can look up (especially in organic) to why this is true, but for simplicity:

Think of if we had 6 mols of A and 6 mols of B where

A + B --> AB

Now think about it this way, the molecule will form AB when an A molecule and a B molecule "bump" or interact. So, that is one type of collision we have here:

Before the reaction and during we have:

A hitting A
B hitting B
A hitting B (forms AB)
AB hitting A
AB hitting B
AB hitting AB

Look how many types of collisions are going on during this reaction we assumed to be perfectly elastic. Think of how many MORE collisions between other molecules are occurring than the SINGLE collision of just A and B. That is one collisions type where all of the other collisions are happening at the same time. So, that is your answer. We have some many different types of non reactive collisions and the frequency at which those exist (especially when we have millions and millions of atoms colliding) is far greater than the frequency of just A and B.