CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS - LABORATORY ACTIVITY 6

NAME: Lazar, Gypsy Kyle R. SCORE: _____________________

SECTION: Alu-BSCE-1A

EQUILIBRIUM AND LE CHATELIER’S PRINCIPLE

PART I: Changes in Reactant or Product Concentrations

A. Copper and Nickel Ions

Colors:
1. CuSO4 (aq) Light Blue 4. NiCl2 (aq) Green
2. [Cu(NH3)4]2+(aq) Dark Blue 5. [Ni(NH3)6]2 (aq) Purple
3. After HCl addition Blue 6. After HCl addition Green

Explain the effects of NH3 (aq) and HCI (aq) on the CuS04 solution in terms of Le Chatelier's
Principle. Consider the following equilibria:

In Le Chatelier's Principle, the system will react to minimize the stress. Since CuSO4 (aq) is a
reactant, the rate of the forward reaction will increase in order to "use up" the additional reactant
which is the NH3 (aq) and turns the solution's original color into dark blue. This will cause the
equilibrium to shift to the right, producing [Cu(NH3)4]2+ (aq).

After adding HCI (aq) on the CuS04 solution the equilibrium shifts to the left, favoring the reverse
reaction in order to replenish the removed reactant, and the solution's color will turn to its
original color which is blue

B. Cobalt Ions
7. Color of CoCl2 (aq) Pale Pink
8. Color after the addition of HCL (aq) Black
9. Color after the addition of H2O Pale Pink
CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS - LABORATORY ACTIVITY 6

Account for the changes observed for the cobalt solutions in terms of LeChatelier's Principle.
Consider the following equilibrium:

In cobalt solutions, the presence of HCL (aq) causes a shift of the equilibrium to the right to
consume the added HCL (aq) in which there is a changed in color from pale pink to black... While
adding the H2O, there is also a change in color of the solutions from black back to its original color
which is pale pink and H2O causes a shift of the equilibrium to the left to replenish the removed
reactant which is HCL (aq).

PART II: Equilibria Involving Sparingly Soluble Salts

10. White precipitate Ag2CO3 is present

11. Colorless solution
Account for your observations. Consider the following equilibria:

A reversible reaction at equilibrium can be disturbed if a stress is applied to it. Examples of

stresses include increasing or decreasing chemical concentrations, or temperature changes.

12. Account for your observations. Consider the following equilibria

White precipitate AnCl is present

13. Did the precipitated AgCl dissolve? Explain.

Yes, because the addition of NH3 removes the silver ions forcing the equilibrium reaction to shift
to the left, and as a result dissolves AgCl. Ag+. If we add enough NH3, the precipitate of AgCl
eventually will dissolve.
CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS - LABORATORY ACTIVITY 6

14. What effect did the addition of HN03 have on the contents of the test tube? Explain.

The Addition of HNO3 acidifies the solution producing white precipitate of Ag2C03

15. What effect did the addition of NH3 have on the contents of the test tube? Explain.
Adding acid to this ammoniacal solution will remove the NH3 by forming NH4+ (see Equation (2))
This causes equilibrium 6 to shift to the left. The released Agt will combine

again with Cl- Present to precipitate AgC as shown in Equation 15). The reprecipitated AgCl can be
Redissolved by the addition of excess NH3 for the same reason given above

16. Explain the effect of the addition of K

The equilibrum pt.Equation 167 can be disturbed by the addition of 1: From Ki Silver indide

Will precipitate (white precipitatel removing Age Causing the equilibrium to shift to the left

The reason that Agl will precipitate is because the equilibrium of Equation [7] lies much Farther to
the right than does the equilibrium of Equation [6]

PART III: Effects of Temperature on Equilibria

17. Color of cool CoCl2 Pink

Color of hot CoCl2 Blue
Is the reaction exothermic? No Explain.

The reaction is endothermic. As heat is applied the reaction shifts to the right which Is obvious as
the color change from pink to dark blue which indicates the formation of Cobalt.
CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS - LABORATORY ACTIVITY 6

QUESTIONS

What is meant by the term chemical equilibrium? Must amounts of reactants and products be
equal at equilibrium?

In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the reactants and products
are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there
is no observable change in the properties of the system.

Why do catalysts not alter the amounts of reactants and products present at equilibrium?
Catalysts allow reactions to proceed faster through a lower-energy transition state. To reiterate,
catalysts do not affect the equilibrium state of a reaction. In the presence of a catalyst the same
amounts of reactants and products will be present at equilibrium as there would be in the
Uncatalyzed reaction.