Reversible Reactions: In this lesson we will study reversible reactions
.
In the above chemical reactions the first positive
sign means react with and the second on the product side means 'and'
The arrow shows the direction to which the reaction proceeds . Therefore the whole chemical change is represented as;
Fe (s) + 2HCl(aq) w FeCl 2 (aq) +
H 2 (g)
In the second example the reactants are sulphur and
Oxygen while the products is
Sulphur (IV) oxide since
Oxygen gas is limited not excess. The reaction should be presented as
S (s) + O2 (g) w
SO2(g)
Reversible reaction is a chemical reaction in which the products of forward reaction can combine to give back the original reactants.
Iron reacts with water to form Iron (
III) oxide and hydrogen gas.
In the reaction the double arrow means reversible so that rate of forward and backward reactions are the same.
Forward reaction has Iron and steam as the reactants and tri Iron tetra Oxide and hydrogen as products.
Backward reaction has tri Iron tetra oxide and hydrogen as reactants and Iron and steam as products.
Calcium carbonate decomposes to
Calcium oxide and carbon (IV) oxide gas.
In the equation when the reaction takes place in a closed system initially it decomposes to form lime (Calcium oxide) and
Carbon (IV) oxide. This is the forward reaction.Backward reaction is favoured by accumulation of Carbon (IV) oxide that reacts with lime to form limestone (
Calcium Carbonate)
which is given off and a white solid is left behind.
Hydrated
Copper (II) crystals lose water of crystallization as shown in the following equation.
When blue crystals of Copper (II) Sulphate are heated in a test tube steam is given off and a white solid is left behind.
When the tube is cooled and a few drops of cold water added the blue colour reappears and the tube becomes hot.
The following experiment is carried out to investigate the chemical equilibrium in
Chromate (VI) ion.
Click to play the video and observe what happens carefully.
Potassium chromate (VI) solution is orange. When a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid are added to the solution it turns yellow due to the formation of dichromate (VI) ions (Cr 2 O7 2-). This makes the concentration of hydrogen ions to increase as the acid is added.
An equilibrium is established with more Cr 2 O7 2- in solution than Cr O42- hence orange colour is dorminant.
On adding a few drops of 2M
Sodium hydroxide the colour of the solution turns to orange as shown in the equation.
On adding 2M sodium hydroxide
OH- ions react with H+ ions to form water. This reduces concentration of H+ ions in the solution shifting the equilibrium to the left.
H+ ions are formed to replace the H+ ions used to form water.
Altering the concentration of any one of the components of the equilibrium mixture disturbs equilibrium by affecting the rate of forward and backward reaction.
This makes the reaction proceed in one direction until a new equilibrium is established.
Note that the arrow showing reversible at equilibrium as shown
Which is different to that of the normal reversible reaction.
When the rate of forward reaction equals the rate of backward reaction a state of balance is reached.
At first
D and C dominates to form F and G and then as F and G accumulates reverse reaction starts building up until a state of balance is reached.
At the state of balance the reaction is said to have reached a dynamic equilibrium because reactants and products are simply co existing but there is constant interchange from products to reactants and vice versa.
The following experiment explains chemical equilibrium as a state of balance.
The video clip below shows how to investigate change of colour of indicator in acid alkali media as an example of reversible reactions.Click to play the video and observe what happens carefully.
Phenolphthalein indicator is colourless in water and acid.
It is pink in alkali
In reversible reactions products can form reactants unlike many reactions that are one way.
In a closed system where no reactants or products escape both forward and backward reactions occur at the same time.
As time goes both forward and backward reactions proceed at the same rate. This is called chemical
Equilibrium or dynamic equilibrium. The individual atoms and molecules reacting and products do not change in concentration.
You will now learn about the factors affecting rates of reaction.
- published: 29 Oct 2015
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