SIMPLE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA

AT EQUILIBRIUM
What is Chemical Equilibrium?
• Chemical equilibrium is the state in which both
reactants and products are present in
concentrations which have no further
tendency to change with time.[1] Usually, this
state results when the forward reaction
proceeds at the same rate as the reverse
reaction. The reaction rates of the forward
and backward reactions are generally not zero,
but equal. Thus, there are no net changes in
the concentrations of the reactants and
products. Such a state is known as dynamic
equilibrium
• The concept of chemical equilibrium was
developed after Bertholletm (1803) found that
some chemical reactions are reversible. For any
reaction mixture to exist at equilibrium, the rates
of the forward and backward (reverse) reactions
are equal. In the following chemical equation with
arrows pointing both ways to indicate equilibrium,
A and B are reactant chemical species, S and T
are product species, and α, β, σ, and τ are the
stoichiometric coefficients of the respective
reactants and products:
αA + βB σS + τ T
 αA + βB σS + τ T

• The equilibrium position of a reaction is said

to lie "far to the right" if, at equilibrium,
nearly all the reactants are consumed.
Conversely the equilibrium position is said to
be "far to the left" if hardly any product is
formed from the reactants.
• A chemical system is said to be in equilibrium
when the quantities of the chemical entities
involved do not and cannot change in time
without the application of an external
influence. In this sense a system in chemical
equilibrium is in a stable state.. The equation
of chemical equilibrium can be expressed
symbolically as
reactant(s) product(s)
Example:

In this equation, the product, methanol

(CH3OH), is being produced at the same rate as
the reactants, CO and H2, in the reverse
(backwards) reaction.

CO(g)+2H2(g) ⇌ CH3OH(g)
 Decomposition of calcium carbonate:
• When we heat solid calcium carbonate in a closed
vessel at a temperature of 1073 K, it decomposes
into calcium oxide(solid) and CO2(gaseous ). CO2
produced in the above reaction will exert some
pressure in the vessel. The reading on manometer
shows that as the process of decomposition
continues the pressure value increases but till a
certain limit. Once that limit is reached, pressure
becomes constant at a given constant
temperature.
• This means that CO2 production has become
constant despite some CaCO3 presence. This
stabilizing of the pressure (CO2production
becoming constant) signifies that we have
reached the equilibrium.

This can be represented as:

CaCO3 ⇌ CaO (s) + CO2 (g)