What happens to the equilibrium position when the concentration of a reactant is increased in a reversible reaction?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What happens to the equilibrium position when the concentration of a reactant is increased in a reversible reaction?
The equilibrium shifts to the right
The equilibrium shifts to the left
The equilibrium remains unchanged
The reaction stops
According to Le Chatelier's Principle, increasing the concentration of a reactant will shift the equilibrium position to the right to favor the formation of products.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What happens to the equilibrium position when the concentration of a reactant is increased in a reversible reaction?
Solution: According to Le Chatelier's Principle, increasing the concentration of a reactant will shift the equilibrium position to the right to favor the formation of products.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand that a reversible reaction can go in two directions: from reactants to products and from products back to reactants.
Step 2: Know that equilibrium is the point where the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the reverse reaction.
Step 3: Recognize that Le Chatelier's Principle states that if a change is made to a system at equilibrium, the system will adjust to counteract that change.
Step 4: When the concentration of a reactant is increased, the system will try to reduce that concentration.
Step 5: To reduce the concentration of the added reactant, the equilibrium will shift to the right, favoring the formation of more products.
Step 6: As a result, more products are formed until a new equilibrium is established.