Les Chatilliers Principle, Blood Buffers, and Dynamic Equilibrium

Vocabulary flashcards covering the foundations of Les Chatilliers principle, blood buffering systems, the seesaw mechanical analogy, perturbation scenarios, and the kinetic and thermodynamic impacts of catalysts.

Les Chatilliers Principle

The core principle stating that when a reversible reaction is pushed out of equilibrium, the reaction responds dynamically to reestablish an equilibrium.

Mechanisms for Perturbing Equilibrium

Environmental and chemical factors that displace equilibrium in a reversible system, consisting of changing system pressure, changing system temperature, and varying reactant or product concentrations.

Metabolic Carbon Dioxide ($CO_2$)

A byproduct generated continuously by cellular metabolism; the vast majority is exhaled, while a small percentage dissolves into the water of the blood serum.

Carbonic Acid ($H_2CO_3$)

A chemical product formed when dissolved carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) undergoes an addition reaction with water ($H_2O$), functionally representing dissolved carbon dioxide held in water as an aqueous solution ($aq$).

Seesaw Mechanical Analogy

A physical model representing dynamic equilibrium, where reactants ($H_2O$ and $CO_2$) occupy the left side, the product ($H_2CO_3$) occupies the right side, and dynamic equilibrium is depicted by a balanced, horizontal state.

Upset

An induced disturbance to a reversible chemical reaction that causes an imbalance, physically represented in the seesaw analogy as a tilt making one side heavier and the other lighter.

Response

An internal counteraction executed by a chemical system that shifts reaction rates to restore mass distribution and return the system to horizontal equilibrium.

System Response to Increased Reactant Concentration

An increase in the forward reaction rate caused by adding reactant mass ($CO_2$), which converts excess reactants into product ($H_2CO_3$) to re-level equilibrium.

System Response to Decreased Reactant Concentration

An increase in the reverse reaction rate caused by the depletion of reactants ($CO_2$), which consumes the product ($H_2CO_3$) and produces new reactants to restore balance.

System Response to Increased Product Concentration

An increase in the reverse reaction rate caused by an increase in product ($H_2CO_3$), converting product back into reactants ($CO_2$ and $H_2O$) until the reaction equilibrium resets.

Catalyst (Kinetic Impact on Reversible Reactions)

A substance that lowers the activation energy barrier identically for both chemical directions, speeding up both the forward reaction and the reverse reaction simultaneously and proportionally.

Catalyst (Thermodynamic Impact on Equilibrium)

An agent that exerts zero net effect on the position of chemical equilibrium and zero net effect on the numerical value of the equilibrium constant ($K$).