Activation Processes

There are many situations where things happen due to the small number of particles which have more energy than the average.

Water boils at 100C yet water evaporates slowly at temperatures much lower than this.	Particles in the Sun collide and fuse together. Only a small fraction of them have enough energy to do this yet fusion ticks over nicely.	Very few molecules in the treacle have enough energy to escape the bonds with their neighbours. Enough do however for the viscous liquid to flow.	Many chemical processes rely on particles with sufficient activation energy. The reaction between acid and marble is just one.

Typically these processes rely on particles with energy of about 10 to 15 times the average energy of the particles in the fluid.

The Boltzmann factor increases rapidly with temperature. It roughly doubles for about every 20K rise. So your washing will dry on the line about twice as fast when its warmer outside and your syrup will flow much better if you use a warm spoon.