Le Chatelier's Principle
Reversible reactions try to counteract changes
- Le Chatelier’s Principle is the idea that if you change the conditions of a reversible reaction at equilibrium, the system will try to counteract that change
- It can be used to predict the effect of any changes you make to a reaction system
Such as changes to the temperature
- All reactions are exothermic in one direction and endothermic in the other
- If you decrease the temperature the equilibrium will move in the exothermic direction to produce ore heat
- This means you’ll get more products for the exothermic reaction and fewer products for the endothermic reaction
- If you raise the temperature, the equilibrium will move in the endothermic direction to try and decrease it
- You’ll now get more products for the endothermic reaction and fewer products for the exothermic reaction
Pressure
- Changing the pressure only affects an equilibrium involving gases
- If you increase the pressure, the equilibrium tries to reduce it, it moves in the direction where there are fewer molecules of gas
- If you decrease the pressure, the equilibrium tries to increase it, it moves in the direction where there are more molecules of gas
- You can use the balanced symbol equation for a reaction to see which side has more molecules of gas
Concentration:
- If the concentration of the reactants is raised, the forward reaction will increase its rate in order to get the concentrations back to normal.
- If the concentration of the products is raised, the backwards reaction will increase its rate in order to get the concentrations back to normal.
Compromise temperature
- A compromise between a reasonable rate of reaction and a decent yield of product is required in industrial processes.
- The Haber Process is an exothermic reaction in the forward direction so using a low temperature would increase the yield of ammonia.
- However this would mean a low rate of reaction so a compromise temperature (450 °C) is used.