Transcript Document

Chapter 15 - Chemical Equilibrium
USING THE EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT
1. Which is favored - Reactants or products?
2. Predict direction of a reaction
Q  reaction quotient
3. Obtaining equilibrium concentrations
of reactants and products.
4. Predict effect of changing conditions Le Chatelier’s Principle
Concept of Equilbrium
In chemical equilibria, forward and reverse reactions
occur at equal rates.
A
B
At equilibrium, forward rate = backward rate
Forward reaction
A B
Rate = kf [A]
Backward reaction
BA
Rate = kb [B]
At equilibrium, kf [A] = kb [B]
• Dynamic balance
kf [B]

 K eq
kb [A]
• Reaching equilibrium may be slow!

Haber process: N2(g) + 3H2(g)
Initial State: reactants only
2NH3(g)
Initial state: products only
Same equilibrium achieved
H2
H2
NH3
NH3
N2
N2
Time 
Time 
Final State: ratio of products to reactants is the same for both!
The relationship between the concentrations of products and
reactants at “equilibrium” will be the same regardless of starting
conditions.
Catalysts do not effect equilibrium concentrations
Equilibrium Constant
Equilibrium point of any reaction is characterized by a
single number.
Example:
2A
B
2
A
B
(2NO
N2O4)
N 2O4 

constant
constant  K eq 
2
NO
For this reaction: the ratio of concentrations at
equilibrium will be constant.

Keq is a NUMBER.
Keq (the number) DOES NOT depend on concentration
It’s a function of temperature only.
N2(g) + 3H2(g)
2NH3(g)
What is the equilibrium constant expression for
the Haber process?
1.
K eq 
N 2 H 2 
2
NH 3 
K eq 
N 2 H 2 
2
NH 3 
K eq 
NH 3 
3
N 2 H 2 
4.
3

2.

3.
NH 3 
N 2 H 2 
NH 3 

K eq 
2
N
 2  H 2 
2

2

K eq 

5.
Heterogeneous Equilibria - Reactions in more than one phase
3Fe(s) + 4H2O(g)
Fe3O4(s)+4H2(g)
Fe 3O4 H 2 

K eq 
3
4
Fe H 2O
4
What is [Fe]? [Fe3O4]?
3
4
Fe
H2 


Kc 
K eq 
4
Fe
O
 3 4
H 2O


constant
Leave
solids and pure liquid s out of the Ke q expression.
C6H6(g) + 3H2(g)
CaCO3(s)
C6H12(g)
CaO(s) + CO2(g)
Predicting the direction of a reaction
aA + bB
cC + dD
Reaction quotient  Q
c
d
C  D 

Q
a
b
A
B
  
Note: the concentrations used are NOT
equilibrium concentrations.

When Q = Kc system IS at equilibrium
When Q < Kc reaction moves to right
(produces product)
When Q > Kc reaction moves to left
General Approach to Equilibrium Constant Problems
1) Write the balanced reaction.
1) Write the general form for Keq.
1) Set up a data table:
(may need algebraic unknowns)
initial conditions
changes in concentrations
equilibrium concentrations
4) Substitute equilibrium concentrations into the
expression for Keq and solve.
Example:
2 IBr(g)
Kc 
Br2(g) + I2(g)
Br2 I 2   2.5103
2
IBr
Initially [IBr] = [I2] = [Br2] = 0.05M

What is the value of Q?
Which way does reaction go?
What are the final concentrations of reactants and
products?
A 1.0 L container holds 224 g of Fe and 5.00 mole of
H2O(l). It is heated to 1000K and reaches equilibrium. 56
g of Fe are left unreacted. What is Kc at 1000K?
3Fe(s) + 4H2O(g)
initial
change
final
H 2 
4
H 2O 
4
Kc 
Fe3O4(s) + 4H2(g)
Le Chatelier’s Principle
If a system at equilibrium is disturbed by changing
• Concentration of one of the components
• Temperature
• Pressure
the concentrations will shift to counteract the
disturbance.
Fe3+(aq) + SCN-(aq)
yellow colorless
heat + CaCO3 (s)
[Fe(SCN)]2+(aq)
red
CaO(s) + CO2 (g)
2HI(g)
Kc 
H2(g) + I2(g)
H 2 I 2   1.25103
2
HI 
If the system is at equilibrium and we add 0.1 mole of HI,
what will happen?
1.
2.
3.
 reaction shifts to right
reaction shifts to left
no change occurs


If the volume of the container decreases, what will happen?
1.
2.
3.
reaction shifts to right
reaction shifts to left
no change occurs


Summary:
changing concentration (or V so that [ ] changes)
puts a stress on the system.
Stresses do not change Keq!
Q changes; system shifts to re-establish equilibrium
Q K
WHAT IF TEMPERATURE CHANGES? Keq changes
change depends on whether the reaction
is exothermic or endothermic.


H
+H
Nitrogen fixation
Must break N-N triple bond (D = 946 kJ)
Important in biological systems (proteins, nucleic acids) &
industrially (fertilizer, polymers, explosives, …)
Beans, bacteria, etc: nitrogenase enzyme reduces N2 to NH3
at room temp, 1 atm pressure
Fritz Haber (a German…) developed the process for fixing
N2 in 1912.
World War I: Germany imported nitrates from Chile to make explosives.
Allied blockade prevented these compounds from reaching Germany.
Haber process was used to maintain soluble nitrogen supplies.
Haber process - Industrial process used to make ammonia
N2(g) + 3H2(g)
2NH3(g) + heat
N2(g) + 3H2(g)
2NH3(g) + heat
Do we want high or low temperature?
Do we want high or low pressure?
Liquefy ammonia as process proceeds. WHY?
Problem: rate of reaction increases as T increases,
BUT equilibrium constant decreases at higher T.
CAN’T change the equilibrium constant so doing the reaction
at very high temperature would never work.
Solution: need to find a way to speed up the reaction at lower
temperature: Need an appropriate catalyst.
Haber process:
uses Fe/Al2O3 catalyst
works a 400-500oC, at pressures of 200-600 atm
At T < 400oC, lower pressures could be used to get same
equilibrium conversion of N2 to NH3
However, the rate falls exponentially with decreasing
temperature
Still an enormous research problem:
Fertilizer
H2 storage (NH3 is 17.6% hydrogen)
Polymer chemistry
ROLE OF CATALYST
A catalyst increases the rate at which equilibrium is achieved,
but does not change the composition the equilibrium mixture.
It increases the rate by
lowering the activation
barrier between
reactants and products
Ea is lowered the same amount for BOTH forward and backward
reactions SO the rate for BOTH reactions is increased.
The value of the equilibrium constant is NOT affected by the presence
of a catalyst
Catalytic converter
N2(g) + O2(g)
2NO(g)
H = +180.8kJ
Keq at 300K = 10-15
What happens if T is
increased?
At 2400K, Keq = 0.05
At high T (combustion T), NO is favored.
As gases cool, equilibrium favors NO conversion to N2 and O2,
BUT low T means rate is slow: need a catalyst: Pt, Rh, Pd
In catalytic converter, NO is reduced fast (~100-400x in 10-3 s)