The reaction shown below is used in the production of steel. It is an exothermic reaction. An engineer thinks that by finding the correct catalyst, he can reduce the amount of energy released by the reaction. Will his plan have the desired effect? Explain your answer. Fe3O4 (s) + 4C (s) → 3Fe (s) + 4CO (g

Catalysts are associated with the kinetics of a reaction, not the thermodynamics. They work by increasing the rate of reaction through lowering the activation energy. A catalyst is not able to alter the enthalpy of a reaction (the amount of heat that is release/absorbed) so it's not going to have the desired effect.