Section 10 - Equilibria

Question 1

In a reversible reaction, what can the products do?

Answer 1

The products can react with each other and change back into the reactants

Question 2

How can reversible reactions affect the yield of a reaction?

Answer 2

Reversible reactions can affect the yield of a reaction, as some of the products will be converted back into reactants.

Question 3

How can you combat reversible reactions not giving a high yield?

Answer 3

You can keep removing and recycling any reactant that you have left, so you can still end up with a good overall yield.

Question 4

What will happen if a reversible reaction takes place in a closed system?

Answer 4

It will eventually reach a state of equilibrium

Question 5

Describe how a reaction reaches dynamic equilibrium

Answer 5

1) When a reaction begins there will be a high concentration of reactants, and a low concentration of products in the system. So the forward reaction will be fast, and the reverse reaction quite slow.
2) The concentration of reactants will gradually decrease, while the products build up. So the forward reaction will start to slow down while the reverse reaction speeds up.
3) After a while the forward reaction and the reverse reaction end up going at the same rate. From this point on the concentration of the reactants and products won’t change. This is called dynamic equilibrium.