Congson, Shayne Angelique B.

April 12, 2021

BSMLS-1B

CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM
Objectives:
 To determine the reaction of the mixture under exothermic and endothermic reaction.
 To explain the relationship of reaction quotient (Q) and equilibrium constant (K c).
 To identify the difference between irreversible and reversible reaction.
 To understand how concentration affect the forward and reverse reaction.

Materials:
 Dinitrogen tetroxide [N2O4] (transparent)  Metal rack
 Nitrogen Dioxide [NO2] (brown)  Water
 Hydrogen ion [H2]  Water indicator
 Nitrogen ion [N2]  Bunsen burner
 Liquid Nitrogen Tank  Lab Jack
 Gas Syringe  Burette stand
 Beaker  Combustion tube
 Hot plate  Screen
 Hot water bath  Gas washing bottles

If the ammonia is generated and become a nitrogen and hydrogen, during its liquefied form it can easily apply the
nitrogen to the soil.

DISTURBANCE OF EQUILIBRIUM AND ITS CONCENTRATION

Equilibrium Reaction
aA +bB ↔ cC+ dD
Examples:
N 2 O 4 ( g)↔ 2 NO 2
N 2 ( g )+ 3 H 2 ( g) ↔2 N H 3

The concentration of the reactants and products change over time but remain the same. Similar to the concentration of
N 2 O 4∧N O2, at equilibrium their concentration is stable, but not necessarily equal. If the concentration of the
reactants and products are known or given, the equilibrium constant K c can be calculated, and it will reflect the extent of
the chemical reaction. The concentration of product is divided by the concentration of reactants.

In equilibrium, K c was calculated to be 4.6 x 103 under the current conditions. It implies that the concentration of
N 2 O4 (reactant )is higher than N O2 ( product) due to its K c which lower than 1 so [ N 2 O4 ] > [ NO2 ] .

Equilibrium Constant- doesn’t affected the value by the increasing pressure but the equilibrium is shifted to the left.
2
[ C ]caq [ D ]daq [ Products ] [ NO 2 ]
K c= a b K c= =
[ A ] aq [ B ] aq [ Reactants ] [ N 2 O4 ]
K c ≫1 : Mixture contains mostly products
K c ≪1 : MIxture contains mostly reactants

Reaction Quotient- calculated from the actual product and reactant concentrations at the given point of time.
[ C ]ct [ D ]dt
Q= a b
[ A ]t [ B ]t
Q> K c :Reaction forms reactants
Q< K c :Reaction forms products
Q=K c : Equilibrium

Increase in pressure between Q and Kc is initially more product and less reactant when in equilibrium Q> K c
On the experiment there are 2 factors that will stress the equilibrium and may affect the concentration of the contents
in the syringe.
 For the first factor which is the temperature.
  EXPERIMENT 1
 The syringe with the N 2 O 4∧N O 2is place in the beaker with water boiling at 100 oC. After it
reached the equilibrium the content of the syringe is mostly compose of NO 2. Due to the heat
that we apply most of the N 2O4 is converted to NO 2 which makes the concentration of product
higher than the concentration of the reactant. According to Le Chatelier’s Principle, in heating a
mixture it favors the forward reaction in endothermic reactions just like what happen on this
experiment. In addition, the equilibrium is shifted to the right but if we try a back reaction in our
experiment which is the exothermic reaction the result will just reverse and will shift the
equilibrium to the left. 2 NO2 → N 2 O 4but when move to a room temperature it converted
back.
 heat + N 2 O 4 (g)→ 2 NO 2 (Endothermic), more NO2, to the right, high concentration on the
products. Kc>>1
 N 2 O 4 ( g ) ← 2 NO 2+ heat (Exothermic)
 EXPERIMENT 2
 This part of experiment is the opposite of the first one. In this experiment put the syringe into
the liquid nitrogen tank and remove it when it reaches the equilibrium. As I observe the changes
in concentration, I noticed that the liquid nitrogen tank makes most of the NO2 is converted to
N2O4 at -196 C and under this condition the back reaction is favored where in the equilibrium is
shifted towards the reaction side which is to the left. Inside the nitrogen tank the of the syringe
is transparent, since the concentration of the brown NO 2 is close to zero the syringe is filled with
colorless dinitrogen tetroxide. Kc<<1 because mostly reactant present in the mixture.
 Applying pressure in the syringe
 EXPERIMENT 3
 On this experiment the syringe is in the rack and there is an increase in pressure in the syringe.
By putting pressure on the syringe, the concentration of both gases increases as the molecules
are squeezed into smaller volume and it intensifies the color. The color get paler after the
pressure increases due to the new establish equilibrium in which favored the back reaction.
Compared to the initial state, the ration between the product and reactant is now lower it
means that the equilibrium shifted towards the reactant or to the left.
 Le Chatelier’s Principle is used to predict the outcome. It states that in order to cope with the
reduced volume, the shifts of equilibrium on the side favored where the number of moles is
lower. Every mole of N2O4 is converted into 2 moles of NO 2, the back reaction is favored under
high pressure conditions.
 After pulling back the plunger which caused a decrease in pressure, the color becomes pale
because of the concentration of both gases decreases. The mixture then reverts back to its initial
color, which is dark, as the original equilibrium is reestablished.

If the mixture is left or heat up again by the room temperature, the N2O4 is converted to NO2. The color of the syringe
returns to light brown color and its original equilibrium is reestablished.

HARBER PROCESS
 Uses Hydrogen and Nitrogen as reactants. N 2 ( g )+ 3 H 2 ( g) ↔2 NH 3
 Exothermic process (to the left)
 When the gas starts to flow the bubbles should be visible in the gas washing bottles on the left, then open the
Bunsen burner.
 The presence of ammonia stained the indicator fluid pink, it means that we are producing more product.
 Nitrogen is extremely stable at room temperature and even the forward reaction is exothermic, the conversion
of nitrogen and hydrogen to ammonia is slow. Catalyst is used to speed up the rate of the forward and back
reactions at which the reaction reaches equilibrium, and, in this experiment, we use a steel wool as a catalyst
that in the combustion tube which is best at high temperature.

There are more moles on the left side of the equation, increasing the pressure will shift the equilibrium to the right.
Ammonia= zero and Kc is assumed to be 9.6 Q is smaller than< Kc and favored the forward reaction which is similar to
heated gas syringe from -196 C (concentration of product is almost zero) to room temperature.

The higher the temperature, the lower the yields, but we need high temperature in order for the catalyst to work. To
compensate this, just increase the pressure to shift the equilibrium to the right so that you can improve the utilization of
ammonia. Also, to favor the forward reaction you must constantly remove NH3 from the system to produce fertilizer in
abundant amounts and prevent a global collapse.