A catalyst is a substance that makes a chemical reaction go faster — often dramatically faster — without being used up itself, quietly making possible reactions that would otherwise be far too slow to be useful. This episode explains how catalysts work, why they're indispensable to both living cells and modern industry, and how the enzymes in your body and the converter in your car are playing the very same trick.

You'll come away understanding what a catalyst is, the idea of “activation energy” and how catalysts lower it, what enzymes are and why life depends on them, and why catalysts underpin a huge share of the modern chemical world.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: Royal Society of Chemistry – “C ...