Jamieson Elia

Lab Partner: Ian Ferguson

Determination of an Equilibrium Constant

Objective:

The purpose of this lab was to determine the value of the equilibrium constant for the

reaction between iron(III) and thiocyanate ion:

Fe3+(aq) + SCN-(aq) [Fe(SCN)]2+(aq)

The equilibrium constant will be calculated by finding the concentrations of Fe3+, SCN-,

and Fe(SCN)2+ via a spectrometer and the equation for the equilibrium constant.

Data:

Assuming absorbance and [Fe(SCN)2+] are directly related, from calculating

concentration of iron(II) thiocyanate based on our absorbance readings, as well as using the

original concentrations of the reactants, the equilibrium concentrations of the four equilibrium

mixtures were calculated. Refer to figures 1 & 2 for calculations below.

Figure 1: Calculations for Solutions A & B Figure 2: Calculations for Solutions C & D

Solution Absorbance Calculated Calculated Kc

[Fe(SCN)2+]eq
A 0.189 1.9 x 10-5 50.55

B 0.281 2.8 x 10-5 50.36

C 0.470 4.7 x 10-5 65.50

D 0.484 4.8 x 10-5 53.45

Table 1: Calculated equilibrium constant from absorbance readings

Results and Discussion:

In this lab, we found the average equilibrium constant (Kc) of the reaction between

iron(III) and thiocyanate ion to be 54.97. At 456 nm, the spectrometer determined the

absorbance of our [Fe(SCN)]2+ solutions. This corresponds to the orange color of our solutions,

since at 456 nm, this means the orange color we saw was being reflected at our eyes, while

blue light was being absorbed. 456 nm falls in the blue range, so this was an accurate

wavelength to collect our data at. The reaction between Fe3+ and SCN- is product favored based

on Le Chatelier’s Principle, stating that when the Q value is less than the K value, the reaction

will move in the forward direction, making this reaction product favored. These numbers agree

because since a very large concentration of Fe3+ was added to a small initial concentration of

SCN-, the reaction was forced to the right so that ~100% of the initial SCN- reacted to form

Fe(SCN)2+. In regards to how precise our four K values were, solutions A and B were very

precise, differing by the tenth decimal place, while solution C was not off by much, varying by

~3. Solution D differed the most, varying by ~15. This could account to, but not limited to, not

properly blanking the spectrometer, incorrectly recording data, or incorrectly preparing our

solutions. Because this reaction is labelled as a “dynamic equilibrium,” that means that a

reversible reaction occurred, indicated by the double arrow between the reactants and the

products. It is “dynamic,” or moving, meaning that substances move between the reactants and

products constantly, where the rate of the reactions are equal moving forward and in the

reverse direction