Misconceptions To Determine The Rate Of A Chemical Reaction

Chemical reactions proceeding until all the reactants are used is a common misconception. Chemical reactions actually behave differently. The general reaction equation is a A + b B → c C +d D in this equation A and B are the reactants forming the products C and D. However, unlike the common thought that the reaction ends when it runs out of A and B it actually does not. In most reactions C and D start to react to form A and B at a certain point as you can see in the equation c C + d D → a A + b B. These two reactions occur until the rate of reaction in both equations become equal (meaning the speed of the production of C and D in the first equation is equal to the speed of the production of A and B in the second equation) resulting in a
The numerical value of the equilibrium constant gives an indication of the extent of the reaction, after reaching equilibrium. If K_(c )is large, then that means the numerator is much larger than the denominator and the reaction has produced a relatively large amount of products making the reaction lie far to the right. If K_(c )is small, then the numerator is much smaller than the denominator and not much product has been formed making the reaction lie far to the left. While thing can affect the constants the equilibrium system itself can be effected this was discovered by Le
This principle can be used as a guild to help one work out what happens when you change the conditions of a reaction in dynamic equilibrium. Le Chatelier’s Principle states that if a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by the changing of conditions, the position of equilibrium moves to counteract the change. By doing this the amount of reactants and products will be changed but the ratio between the two will remain the same. I get that if it is stressed it will shift to counteract the change but how can the chemical system at equilibrium be stressed? A chemical system at equilibrium can be stressed in a multitude of ways including a change in the concentrations, change in pressure if gases are being used and a change in temperature. Wait wouldn’t a catalyst have an effect on equilibrium and possible cause stress to the reaction? A catalyst while it seems like it would have an effect on equilibrium it does not since it affects both reverse and forward reactions equally. A catalyst only effect how quickly a reaction can reach equilibrium. Okay got it now that I know what can stress equilibrium how do I know how it counteract these conditions? Well it all depends on what conditions were changed. You see if the concentration of one of the reactants were increased then the equilibrium would react to remove the stress by increasing the amount of product and the position of equilibrium moves to the right. If the