Name:

Online Lab: Exploring Equilibrium

Equilibrium
When a reversible reaction reaches equilibrium, the amount or concentration of products and
reactants level due to the fact that the forward reaction changes reactants into products at
the same rate that the reverse reaction changes products into reactants.

Stress
When a system at equilibrium is stressed, the chemicals in the closed system respond to the
stress and make either more products or reactants. Once again, the concentrations will level
off and a new equilibrium with different concentrations will be established.

An increase in heat energy to the system causes an increase in the rate of the endothermic
reaction and vice-versa.
An increase in concentration of a compound causes an increase in the rate of reaction that
consumes the compound and vice versa.
An increase in pressure causes an increase in the reaction that produces fewer moles of gas
and vice versa.

Shift
The term shift is simply indicates the direction (forward or reverse) of a reaction that increases
in rate when a stress is applied. For example, if a reaction shifts to the right as a result of a
stress being applied, the forward reaction rate increases and the concentration of the
products increase. The concentration of the reactants must decrease.

The Equilibrium Constant

There is a mathematical expression called the equilibrium constant. It is written as Keq. The
equilibrium constant is a ratio of the product of the concentration of the products raised to
the power of their coefficients divided by the product of the concentration of the reactants
raised to the power of their coefficients.

For example, in the reversible reaction 2 HI (g) H 2 (g) + I2 (g), the Keq is calculated using
this formula:

The greater the value of the Keq, the greater the concentration of products at an equilibrium.
Industrial engineers and chemists work to increase the Keq, which indicates an increase in
efficiency and yield of a chemical process. Fritz Haber invented a process that raised the
equilibrium constant to a point that made the synthesis of ammonia a viable and commercially
feasible level. Carl Bosch took Haber’s lab set-up and scaled it up to an industrial production
level.

Your Goal?
In this activity, your job is to use a computer simulation to examine how stress (temperature,
pressure and concentration) causes a system at equilibrium to shift and establish a new
equilibrium.

Below you will find directions and a report sheet.

Go to:
http://employees.oneonta.edu/viningwj/sims/disturbing_a_chemical_equilibrium_s.html

The first experiment is an example for you.

Set the sliders to the initial conditions. Click “Equilibrate.” Apply the stress by changing the
correct slider. Click “Equilibrate” again to get the final conditions. Final conditions will appear
under the “New Equilibrium” column.

[A] [B] [C] [D]

Initial Conditions 0.5 0.5 0 0
Equilibrium Conditions 0.167 0.167 0.333 0.333
Apply a stress by increasing 0.8 0.167 0.333 0.333
the concentration of [A] to 0.8
Final Conditions 0.7 0.0669 0.433 0.433
“New Equilibrium”

A screenshot of how this looked after the experiment:

Describe the stress that was made on the system.

The stress made on the system indicates a clear inclination towards the right side of the
reaction, favoring the increase in the concentration of compounds “C” and “D”.

Which direction did the equilibrium shift? Describe at least one change in the data that
demonstrates this shift.

A forward direction did change the equilibrium shift

Click Reset. Complete the experiments below:

Experiment 1
[A] [B] [C] [D]
Initial Conditions 0.5 0.5 0 0
Equilibrium Conditions 0.167 0.167 0.333 0.333
Apply a stress by increasing 0.167 0.167 0.333 0.8
the concentration of [D] to 0.8
Final Conditions 0.226 0.226 0.274 0.741
“New Equilibrium”

Describe the stress that was made on the system.

The stress made on the system indicates a clear inclination towards the left side of the
reaction, favoring the increase in the concentration of compounds “A” and “B”.
Which direction did the equilibrium shift? Describe at least one change in the data that
demonstrates this shift.

A reverse direction did change the equilibrium shift

Click Reset.
Experiment 2
[A] [B] [C] [D]
Initial Conditions 0.5 0.5 0 0
Equilibrium Conditions 0.167 0.167 0.333 0.333
Apply a stress by decreasing 0.167 0.05 0.333 0.333
the concentration of [B] to
0.05
Final Conditions 0.213 0.0965 0.287 0.287
“New Equilibrium”

Describe the stress that was made on the system.

The stress made on the system indicates a clear inclination towards the left side of the
reaction, favoring the increase in the concentration of compounds “A” and “B”.

Which direction did the equilibrium shift? Describe at least one change in the data that
demonstrates this shift.

A Reverse direction did change the equilibrium shift

Click Reset.
Experiment 3
[A] [B] [C] [D]
Initial Conditions 0.5 0.5 0 0
Equilibrium Conditions 0.167 0.167 0.333 0.333
Apply a stress by decreasing 0.167 0.167 0.333 0.05
the concentration of [D] to
0.05
Final Conditions 0.105 0.105 0.395 0.112
“New Equilibrium”

Describe the stress that was made on the system.

The stress made on the system indicates a clear inclination towards the left side of the
reaction, favoring the increase in the concentration of compounds “C” and “D”.

Which direction did the equilibrium shift? Describe at least one change in the data that
demonstrates this shift.

A forward direction did change the equilibrium shift

Click Reset.
Experiment 4
This experiment is designed to demonstrate the common ion effect. Run the conditions below.
[A] [B] [C] [D]
Initial Conditions 0.5 0.5 0 0
Equilibrium Conditions 0.167 0.167 0.333 0.333

Now hit reset, and run the conditions below. The idea is that [C] is a common ion that was introduced into the solution.
[A] [B] [C] [D]
Initial Conditions 0.5 0.5 0.5 0
Equilibrium Conditions 0.229 0.229 0.771 0.271

Compare the two sets of equilibrium conditions that were just produced.
Which direction did the equilibrium shift? Describe at least one change in the data that
demonstrates this shift.

For the first one case, the equilibrium shift reaction is inclined by forward. On the other hand,
for second one case the equilibrium shift reaction is inclined by reverse, that’s because
concentration of compound “C” is been increases and therefore increases its production, as
describes LeChatelier’ Principle.