Equilibrium Flashcards
When is equilibrium reached?
When the apparatus prevents the escape of reactants and products and the forward and reverse reactions occur at exactly the same rate.
What happens if a system is at equilibrium and a change is made to any of the conditions
counteract the change
The system responds to counteract the change.
Describe the effect of changing the concentration of reactant and product on the position of equilibrium
The system is no longer at equilibrium and the concentrations of all the substances will change until equilibrium is reached again.
Describe the effect of changing temperature on the position of the equilibrium
If the temperature of a system at equilibrium is increased:
The amounts of products at equilibrium increases for an endothermic reaction
The amounts of products at equilibrium decreases for an exothermic reaction
What happens If the temperature of a system at equilibrium is decreased
- the amount of products at equilibrium decreases for an endothermic reaction
- the amount of products at equilibrium increases for an exothermic reaction.
Describe the effect of changing pressure on the position of the equilibrium
Only applies to equilibria that involves gases:
Increase in pressure causes the equilibrium position to shift towards the side with the smaller number of molecules and vice a versa
It has no effect on the reaction where the number of gas molecules are equal on both sides of the equations
What happens If the concentration of a reactant is increased
m
more products will be formed until equilibrium is reached again.
What happens if the concentration of a product is decreased
more reactants will react until equilibrium is reached again.
What happens when there is a decrease in pressure in equilibrium?
the equilibrium positions
The equilibrium position shifts towards the side with the larger number of molecules
Describe the effect of a catalyst on the position of the equilibrium
No effect
It just speeds up both forward and backward reactions equally
i.e equilibrium is achieved faster