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Isabella Valencia, Sofia Nielsen, Yulissa Franco

Mr. James
Equilibrium Lab
26 February 2022

Equilibrium Lab

Purpose:
When the reactions are occurring but no observable changes can be measured is what happens
when a system is in equilibrium. The equilibrium constant for a reaction depends on changes
with temperature. The observable effect of temperature on a system when it’s at equilibrium
depends on temperature and whether it’s endothermic and absorbs heat or exothermic and
produces the heat. If a reaction is exothermic, heat will appear on the product side but, for
endothermic, heat will appear on the reactant side in a chemical equation.

Hypothesis:
If an equilibrium system is subjected to a stress, the system will react in such a way as to reduce
the stress because when the concentration of a species is increased, the system will shift and
increase the rate of reaction and decrease the concentration of that species.

Procedure:

1. Fill a 250 mL beaker half-full with water. Using the beaker, prepare a 70-80 degree
Celsius hot water bath for use in step 8.

2. Prepare a reference solution of FeSCN^2: To a clean 50 mL beaker, add 40 mL of

distilled water followed by 1 mL of 0.1 M Fe(NO3)3 solution and of 0.1 M KSCN
solution. Mix thoroughly with a glass stirring rod.

3. Label four clean test tubes 1-4.

4. Add 1 mL of FeSCN^2+ reference solution to each test tube 1-4.

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5. Add 10 drops of distilled water to test tube 1 and record the color of the solution on the
data table.
6. To test tube 2, add 10 drops of 0.1 M Fe(NO3)3. Compare the color of the resulting
solution to the solution in test tube 1 and record the color comparison on the data table.

7. To test tube 3, add 10 drops of 0.1 M KSCN. Compare the color of the resulting solution
in test tube 1 and record the color comparison on the data table.

8. Add 10 drops of distilled water to test tube 4 and place the sample in a hot water bath at
70-80 degrees Celsius. After 2-3 minutes, remove the tube and record the color of the
solution on the data table.

9. Consult your instructor for appropriate disposal procedures.

Safety:

Wear safety goggles when performing this or any lab that uses chemicals, heat or glassware.
Iron (III) nitrate solution is a possible skin and body tissue irritant; it will also stain clothes and
skin. Potassium thiocyanate is toxic by ingestion. Avoid contact of all chemicals with eyes and
skin. Clean up all chemicals spills immediately. Wear chemical splash goggles, chemical-
resistant gloves, and a chemical-resistant apron. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water
before leaving the laboratory.

Data:
Cold water Room Hot water Cold water Room Hot water
for Iron temp. for iron for temp. for
Water for potassium Water for potassium
iron potassium

Color Red Dark Cherry red Red orange Lighter

change orange orange
(final
color)
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Analysis:

● An independent variables would be the red liquid along with time

● And a dependant variable would be the water

● The color of the reactant changed dramatically fast compared to the other reactants with

distinct temperatures

● The reaction is endothermic because the process absorbs heat and cools the surroundings

● With each different water temperature came a different shade of color with the same

amount of solution on each one.

● The 1ml of solution in the beaker turned red which was then used for a main purpose in

the lab.
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Conclusion:
In this lab, equilibrium was the main component to finding purpose in figuring out how
different solutes and how they would interact with the same solution. Following the procedure to
this which would be that In figuring out observable effect of temperature on a system when it’s
at equilibrium and was able to find that based on temperature the outcome of the reaction would
be different although everything besides the temperature remained the same. To continue on, in
one of the tubes, the system reduced the change in because of the amount of solution put in it
because of how the concentration was reacting to the specific temperature and solution. There
were many rules and procedures involved in making this experiment work. First, one must fill a
250 mL beaker half-full with water. Using the beaker, prepare a 70-80 degree Celsius hot water
bath for use in step 8. Prepare a reference solution of FeSCN^2: To a clean 50 mL beaker, add
40 mL of distilled water followed by 1 mL of 0.1 M Fe(NO3)3 solution and of 0.1 M KSCN
solution. Mix thoroughly with a glass stirring rod. Label four clean test tubes 1-4. Add 1 mL of
FeSCN^2+ reference solution to each test tube 1-4. Add 10 drops of distilled water to test tube 1
and record the color of the solution on the data table. To test tube 2, add 10 drops of 0.1 M
Fe(NO3)3. Compare the color of the resulting solution to the solution in test tube 1 and record
the color comparison on the data table. To test tube 3, add 10 drops of 0.1 M KSCN. Compare
the color of the resulting solution in test tube 1 and record the color comparison on the data table.
Add 10 drops of distilled water to test tube 4 and place the sample in a hot water bath at 70-80
degrees Celsius. After 2-3 minutes, remove the tube and record the color of the solution on the
data table. Consult your instructor for appropriate disposal procedures. Also wear safety
goggles when performing this or any lab that uses chemicals, heat or glassware. Iron (III) nitrate
solution is a possible skin and body tissue irritant; it will also stain clothes and skin. Potassium
thiocyanate is toxic by ingestion. Avoid contact of all chemicals with eyes and skin. Clean up
all chemicals spills immediately. Wear chemical splash goggles, chemical-resistant gloves, and
a chemical-resistant apron. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before leaving the
laboratory. Going into data, for cold water for iron, the color was red, for cold water for
potassium, it was also red. For room temperature water for potassium and hot water for
potassium both were an orange and light orange, and room temperature water for iron was also a
dark orange. Hot water for iron was cherry red, being the darkest out of all of the reds. We can
split these two color ranges into groups of similarities due to how they react with the same
solvent. The substances we mixed together created new substances which have new molecular
structures from our one’s from before, in which they all look in light differently to their amount
of absorption to each other and the solvent. Now after expecting this lab for ourselves, we now
understand how the forward and reverse reactions create an equal balance of opposing rates.