Le Chateliers

Principle Fe-SCN
equilibrium

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1. Make the solution

To 100 mL of 0.002 molL-1 potassium thiocyanate
(KSCN) solution, add about 1 mL of 0.02 molL -1
iron (III) nitrate (Fe(NO3)3.
Divide this equally into 4 petri dishes

2. Carry out the

following:

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1. Keep dish ONE as a control

2. To dish TWO add a few drops of iron (III) nitrate solution
3. To dish THREE add a few crystals of potassium
thiocyanate
4. To dish FOUR add a little solid potassium hydrogen
phosphate

For each dish, write down your observations

Explaining the
observations

Le Chateliers Principle: when a change is

imposed to a system at equilibrium, the system
will act to minimise the change

What changes could be imposed?

1. The concentration of a reactant or product could
be changed
2. The temperature of the system could be changed
3. the pressure of the system could be changed by
changing the volume of the container
4. A catalyst could be added

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Applying this to our

experiment
1. Write a balanced equilibrium expression for the
equation.
2. Decide what the change imposed is.
3. In which direction will the system shift to regain its
equilibrium?

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Fe3+ + SCN - FeSCN2+

paleorangecolourless bloodred

Change 1: Adding Fe3+

This increases the CONCENTRATION of a reactant
The system acts to minimise the change by DECREASING THE
CONCENTRATION OF Fe3+
Therefore the equilibrium shifts to the right to remove the added Fe3+
Therefore the concentration of blood red FeSCN2+ increases so we see a
DARKER COLOUR

Change 2: Adding SCNThis increases the CONCENTRATION of a reactant

The system acts to minimise the change by DECREASING THE
CONCENTRATION OF SCNTherefore the equilibrium shifts to the right to remove the added SCNTherefore the concentration of blood red FeSCN2+ increases so we see a
DARKER COLOUR

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Fe3+ + SCN - FeSCN 2+

pale orange

colourless

blood red

Change 3: Adding potassium hydrogen phosphate

This decreases the CONCENTRATION of a reactant by removing Fe3+
The system acts to minimise the change by INCREASING THE
CONCENTRATION OF Fe3+
Therefore the equilibrium shifts to the left to add Fe3+
Therefore the concentration of blood red FeSCN2+ decreases so we see a
LIGHTER COLOUR