All of the following can increase the rate of chemical reaction EXCEPT:

adding more reactant particles

increasing the surface area

lowering the temperature

using a catalyst

Except catalyst because catalyst typically speed up a reaction by reducing the activation energy or changing the reaction mechanism.

a. energy is absorbed in the reaction.

if in a given reaction the energy of products is greater than the energy of reactants it means that reaction is endothermic and during the reaction, the energy is absorbed by reactants. in an endothermic reaction, the products have more stored chemical energy than the reactants. and in this reaction the reactants are more stable than products before the compounds with less energy are always more stable.