7.

1 Equilibrium

Equilibrium Reactions in Chemistry

 Many chemical reactions are reversible and exist in state of equilibrium
 Dynamic Equilibrium: The forward and reverse reactions occur at equal rates
 Single arrows are for non-reversible reactions
 Double headed arrow are for reversible reactions which are in equilibrium

Chemical Systems
 The terms “Reactants” and “Products” implies a reaction goes to completion
when in reality, many reactions are in equilibrium
 Relative rates of a reaction depend on:
 Temperature and Pressure
 Concentration of reactants and products
 Presence of catalyst
 At equilibrium:
 Forward and reverse reactions occur at equal rates
 No change in concentration of reactants or products

Equilibrium Law
 Law: At a given temperature, the ratio of the concentration of products to the
concentration of reactants (each raised to the power of their molar
coefficients) is a constant

 Constant is called equilibrium constant denoted by Kc

 This constant changes at different temperatures
 Large Kc value (Kc > 1) means products are favored over reactants
 Small Kc value (Kc < 1) means reactants are favored over products
 Pure solids and liquids are not included in when calculating the Kc value
 Homogenous equilibrium: reactants and products are present in one phase.
(Common one is reactions in gaseous phase)
 Heterogeneous equilibrium: reactants and products exist in more than one
phase
 Kc of the reverse reaction is the same as 1/Kc of the forward reaction
 Kc (reverse) = 1/Kc (forward)

Effect of conditions on equilibrium constant

 

Pressure:

 If there are 4 mols of gaseous reactants and 3 mols of gaseous products, an

increase in pressure would result in forward reaction being favored to reduce
number of mols overall
Temperature:

 In exothermic reaction, heat is a product. Increase in heat would cause

equilibrium position to move left to counter the imbalance caused by heat. A
summary of all possibilities is in table below

Catalyst:

 Catalyst reduces activation energy

 It increases rate of forward and reverse reaction by equal amount thus no
change in Kc

Le Châtelier principle
 Le Châtelier principle: If a change is made to a system that is in equilibrium,
the balance between the forward and reverse reactions will shift to offset this
change and return system to equilibrium
  If concentration of reactant is increased, forward reaction will be
favored to counteract this. Vice Versa
 Value of Kc does not change

Reaction Quotient

 If system has not reached equilibrium yet, then

 Q is for reaction quotient and helps determine the progress of reaction as it
moves toward equilibrium