Does heat speed up a chemical reaction?

[Wes Solus]

I am a high school student and I am researching a question for my
project in Physical Science. The question is: Does heat speed up a
chemical reaction? I know that heat does speed up the reaction but what I
need to know is the science behind this experiment. If you could help me
out by sending me some information I would really appreciate it. Thanks
for taking time to read my letter.

Thanks,
Wes Solus

[Marvin3809]

Heat usually speeds up a chemical reaction. The reason is that the steps
in the reaction usually include one or more intermediate compounds that
have a higher thermodynamic energy than either the starting ending
compounds. Heating suplies more energy to get the reactants over this
hurdle.

However, heating may sometimes reduce the yield from the reaction, for
example by speeding up side-reactions that result in products other than
the one that is wanted. And, as well, too high a temperature can cause
the desired product(s) to decompose.
Marvin Margoshes