What is the final step of the four-step process for analyzing changes in equilibrium?
The correct answer and explanation is:
The final step of the four-step process for analyzing changes in equilibrium is to determine the new equilibrium position. This step involves assessing how the system has shifted in response to a disturbance and identifying the concentrations of reactants and products at equilibrium after the shift.
The four-step process for analyzing changes in equilibrium generally follows these steps:
- Identify the disturbance: This step involves recognizing what has caused the change, such as a change in concentration, temperature, or pressure. This disturbance could result from adding or removing a reactant or product, or a change in external conditions like temperature or volume.
- Apply Le Chatelier’s Principle: Le Chatelier’s Principle predicts how a system at equilibrium will respond to a disturbance. It states that the system will shift to counteract the change and restore equilibrium. For example, if the concentration of a reactant is increased, the system will shift toward the products to reduce the concentration of the added reactant.
- Predict the direction of the shift: Based on the disturbance, you predict whether the system will shift to the right (toward the products) or to the left (toward the reactants). This prediction is based on the system’s attempt to counteract the change and restore balance.
- Determine the new equilibrium position: After predicting the direction of the shift, the final step is to determine the new equilibrium concentrations. This involves considering the effects of the shift and how the concentrations of reactants and products will change until a new equilibrium is reached. The system will reach a point where the rates of the forward and reverse reactions are equal once again.
This process is important because it allows for the prediction of how equilibrium will respond to external changes, helping in understanding the behavior of chemical reactions.