This is a very imp concept. You must know this before taking the DAt.
Keq is an equilibrium constant. It changes ONLY if temp changes.
k is a rate constant. It's affected by temp (b/c the molecules collide with each other more rapidly b/c of the higher average kinetic energy of all molecules), and it's inversely affected by Ea (if Ea is high, k is low). Ea can be lowered by using catalyst (aka enzymes in biology). So the catalyst CAN affect the value of k.
Now, catalyst will NOT affect Keq. Why? b/c catalyst will only make the rate of the reaction to reach to the equilibrium faster. Once the equilibrium is reached, it'll only make the forward and reverse reaction faster in a molecular level. But does it change the overall equilibrium constant? The answer is No.
Remember, Rate and Equilibrium are two different concepts.
Equilibrium is.. Forward Rate = Reverse Rate of a chemical reaction. It's the equilibrium we are talking about. NOT how "fast" a reaction will proceed.
Hope this helps!
