Chemistry equilibrium

what is meant by a reversible reaction?

a reaction in which the products can react to reform the original reactants

what is meant by a dynamic equilibrium?

in a dynamic equilibrium the reactants and products are constantly moving

what are the features of a dynamic equilibirum?

the rate of the forwards reaction is the same as the rate of the backward reaction in a closed system, the concentrations of the reactants and products are constant

what is meant by a closed system?

a closed system is one in which none of the reactants or products escape from the reaction mixture

what is ignored in the equilibrium law?

solids

what does it mean if the magnitude of K is much smaller than 1?

the reaction hardly proceeds, the equilibrium lies far to the left, the mixture contains mostly reactants

what does it mean if the magnitude of K is smaller than 1?

the reaction favours the reactants, the equilibrium lies to the left hand side

what does it mean if the magnitude of K is equal to 1?

there are significant amounts of both reactants and products, the equilibrium is balanced

what does it mean if the magnitude of K is larger than 1?

the reaction favours the products, the equilibrium lies to the right hand side

what does it mean if the magnitude of K is much larger than 1?

the reaction goes almost to completion, the equilibrium lies far to the right with mostly products present

what does the position of the equilibrium refer to?

the relative amounts of products and reactants in an equilibrium mixture

what does it mean when the position of the equilibrium shifts to the left?

the concentration of reactants increases

what does it mean when the equilibrium shifts to the right

the concentration of products increases

what is Le Chatelier’s principle?

Says that is a change is made to a system at dynamic equilibrium, the position of the equilibrium moves to minimise this change

how does increased concentration of reactant affect the equilibrium?

equilibrium shifts to the right to reduce the effect of an increase in the concentration of a reactant

how does decrease in concentration of reactant affect the equilibrium?

equilibrium shifts to the left to reduce the effect of a decrease in the concentration of a reactant

how does the increase in concentration of a product affect the equilibrium?

Equilibrium shifts to the left to reduce the effect of an increase in the concentration of a product

how does the decrease in concentration of a product affect the equilibrium

equilibrium shifts to the right to reduce the effect of a decrease in the concentration of a product

how does concentration affect the value of K?

if all other conditions stay the same, the equilibrium constant is not affected by any changes in concentration

What state must a substance be in for pressure to affect the equilibrium?

gas

how does an increase in pressure affect the equilibrium?

Equilibrium shifts in the direction which produces the smaller number of molecules to decrease the pressure again

how does a decrease in pressure affect the equilibrium?

equilibrium shifts in the direction that produces the larger number of molecules of gas to increase pressure again

how does pressure affect the value of k?

if all other conditions remain the same, the equilibrium is not affected by any changes in pressure

how does an increase in pressure affect the equilibrium?

equilibrium will shift in the endothermic direction, absorbing energy to reverse the change

how does a decrease in temperature affect the equilibrium?

equilibrium shifts in the exothermic direction, releasing energy to reverse the change

how does temperature affect the value of K?

in endothermic reactions, the value of k increases, in exothermic reactions, the value of k decreases

how do catalysts impact the equilibrium?

no effect

For exothermic reactions, how does temperature affect the yield and rate

lower temperatures give a higher yield as they favour the forwards reaction while higher temperatures give a faster rate