EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT

PART 2
 Characteristics of the Equilibrium Constant
• The magnitude of K and the position of equilibrium
– 𝐾 ≫ 1 ⟹ equilibrium favours product formation, equilibrium is
therefore shifted to the right.
– 𝐾≪1⟹ equilibrium favours formation of reactants,
equilibrium is therefore, shifted to the left
– 𝐾 = 1 ⟹ equilibrium concentrations of the products are the
same as those of the reactants
• Variation of K with stoichiometry of reaction
– Consider the formation of ammonia (NH3) from nitrogen (N2)
and hydrogen (H2) at a given temperature, K is 0.013 for the
reaction

– Calculate K for the following reactions at this temperature

• SOLUTIONS:
• For the given reaction, the equilibrium constant expression is

a. The equilibrium expression for (a) is

 NH 3    NH 3 2 
12

K a
= =  = K1 2
 N2   H 2 
12 32
  N  H 3 
 2 2 
a. The equilibrium expression for (b) is
−1
 N 2  H 2    NH 3 2 
3
−1 1
Kb = =  = K =
 NH 3 
2
  N  H 3  K
 2 2 
• SOLUTIONS CONT’D
c. The equilibrium constant expression for (c) is
 N2   H 2    N 2  H 2 3 
12 32 12
12
1
K c
= =  = 
 NH 3    NH 2 
 3  K
d. The equilibrium expression for (d) is
 NH 3    NH 3 2 
4 2

K d
= =  = K 2

 N2   H 2 
2 6
  N  H 3 
 2 2 

• The above results can be summarized as follows:

i. The equilibrium expression for a reaction written in reverse is the
reciprocal of that for the original reaction. That is 𝐾𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 =
1
𝐾𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙
ii. When the balanced equation for a reaction is multiplied by a
factor n, the equilibrium expression for the new reaction is the
original expression raised to the nth power. That is 𝐾𝑛𝑒𝑤 =
𝑛
𝐾𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙
 SOLVING EQUILIBRIUM PROBLEMS

• For the gas phase reaction above, the concentrations found at 490oC
in a certain experiment are, in mole litre-1
𝐻2 = 8.62 × 10−4 , 𝐼2 = 2.63 × 10−3 , 𝐻𝐼 = 1.02 × 10−2
a. Calculate the equilibrium constant K c for the equilibrium as written
b. What would be the value of for the reverse reaction
2𝐻𝐼 𝑔 ⇌ 𝐻2 𝑔 + 𝐼2 𝑔
SOLUTION:

 HI  = (1.02 10−2 )
2 2

a. Kc = = 45.9
 H 2  I 2  (8.62 10 )( 2.36 10 )
−4 −3

b. For the reaction written in the reverse direction, 2𝐻𝐼 𝑔 ⇌ 𝐻2 𝑔 + 𝐼2 𝑔

K /
=
 H 2  I 2  1
= =
1
= 2.18  10−2
 HI 
c 2
Kc 45.9
• Suppose that for a synthesis of hydrogen fluoride from hydrogen
and fluorine, 3.000 moles of H2 and 6.000 moles of F2 are mixed in
a 3.000-L flask. The equilibrium constant for the synthesis reaction
at this temperature is 1.15×10-2. Calculate the equilibrium
concentration of each component
• SOLUTION:
Concentration 𝑯𝟐 𝒈 + 𝑭𝟐 𝒈 ⇌ 𝟐𝑯𝑭 𝒈
Initial 1.00 2.00 0
Change -x -x 2x
Equilibrium 1.00 – x 2.00 – x 2x
• Since x cannot be greater than the initial concentrations of any of
𝑚𝑜𝑙
the components, 𝑥 = 2.14 is not valid. Hence, 𝑥 =
𝐿
𝑚𝑜𝑙
0.968 . And the equilibrium concentrations are as follows:
𝐿

• For confirmation, substitute these values back into the equilibrium

expression