Reversible Reaction &

Equilibrium
Reactions
Presented By:
Falak Rehman
IG II
CONTENT:

 Reversible Reaction
 Chemical Equilibria
 Chemical Equilibria and Reaction Conditions
 Haber Process
 Contact Process
Reversible Reaction

 A chemicalreaction that can go either forward or

backward depending on the conditions
 A reactionin which the conversion of reactant to
product and the conversion of product to reactant occur
simultaneously
Examples:

 Reaction between hydrogen (H2) and iodine (I2) to produce

hydrogen iodide (HI).
H2 (g) + I2 (g) ⇋ 2 HI (g)
 Nitrogen (N2) reacting with hydrogen (H2) to produce
ammonia (NH3).
N2 (g) + 3 H2 (g) ⇋ 2 NH3 (g)
 Sulfur dioxide (SO2) reacts with oxygen (O2) to make sulfur
trioxide (SO3)
2 SO2 (g) + O2 (g) ⇋ 2 SO3 (g)
Chemical Equilibria

 Chemical equilibrium is a state in which the rate of the

forward reaction equals the rate of the backward
reaction. In other words, there is no net change in
concentrations of reactants and products
 The only thing that stops chemical reactions from being
"in equilibrium" is the lack of the proper number of
molecules. For a reaction to be in equilibrium, the
concentrations of reactants and products must be related
by the equilibrium constant.
Examples:

H2 + N2 ⇌ 2NH3.

PCl2 + PCl3 ⇌ PCl5.

2NO2 ⇌ N2O4
Chemical Equilibria and Reaction Conditions

 Effect of temperature on the position of equilibrium

 Effect of pressure on the position of equilibrium
 Effect of concentration on the position of equilibrium
 Effect of catalyst on the position of equilibrium
Effect of temperature on the position of
equilibrium

The position of equilibrium moves in such a way as to

tend to undo the change that you have made. If you
increase the temperature, the position of equilibrium will
move in such a way as to reduce the temperature again. It
will do that by favoring the reaction which absorbs heat.
Effect of pressure on the position of equilibrium

a pressure increase shifts an equilibrium to the side of the

reaction with the fewer number of moles of gas, while a
pressure decrease shifts an equilibrium to the side of the
reaction with the greater number of moles of gas.
Effect of concentration on the position of
equilibrium

If the concentration of a substance is increased, the

reaction that consumes that substance is favored, and the
equilibrium shifts away from that substance. If the
concentration of a substance is decreased, the reaction that
produces that substance is favored, and the equilibrium
shifts toward that substance.
Effect of catalyst on the position of equilibrium

Using a catalyst does not affect the position of equilibrium

but the reaction reaches equilibrium faster
Haber Process

 Ammonia is manufactured in an exothermic reaction called the Haber process which occurs
in five stages:
 Stage 1: H2 and N2 are obtained from natural gas and the air respectively and are pumped into
the compressor through pipe
 Stage 2: The gases are compressed to about 200 atmospheres inside the compressor
 Stage 3: The pressurized gases are pumped into a tank containing layers of catalytic iron beds
at a temperature of 450 °C. Some of the hydrogen and nitrogen react to form ammonia:
N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) ⇌ 2NH3 (g)
 Stage 4: Unreacted H2 and N2 and the product ammonia pass into a cooling tank. The ammonia
is liquefied and removed to pressurized storage vessels
 Stage 5: The unreacted H2 and N2 gases are recycled back into the system and start over again
Contact Process

 Sulfuric acid is synthesized by the Contact process

 Concentrated sulfuric acid is used in car batteries, making fertilizers, soaps and detergents
 The first stage is the production of sulfur dioxide, either by burning sulfur to oxidize the
sulfur (equation shown below), or roasting sulfide ores
S + O2 → SO2
 The main stage in the Contact process is the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide
using a vanadium(V) oxide, V2O5, catalyst:
2SO2 + O2 ⇌ 2SO3
 The oxygen used in this stage is obtained from air
 The conditions for this main stage of production are:
A temperature of 450 ºC
A pressure of 2 atm (200 kPa)
 Once sulfur trioxide is formed, it undergoes more processes to produce sulfuric acid