CHEMISTRY MODULE 5 NOTES

Inquiry question: What happens when chemical reactions do not go through to completion?

Syllabus Dot Notes: Extra

Point: Notes:
● model static and System and surroundings:
dynamic  a system is any part of the universe that we are focused on; one that
equilibrium and is of interest to us or one which is to be analysed
 the rest of the universe outside the system is called the
analyse the
surroundings.
differences Types of Systems:
between open and  In an Open system, both matter and energy (usually heat) can be
closed systems freely exchanged with surroundings.
 A closed system is sealed with no transfer of matter. There can still
be energy/heat transfer to and from the surroundings.
 An isolated system is totally
isolated and does not allow
the transfer of either matter
or energy.

Dynamic Equilibrium:
 for a reaction in a closed
system the reactant concentrations decrease and product
concentrations increase.
 A state of chemical equilibrium has been reached where there is no
change to the reactant and product concentrations.
 Example: Nitrogen dioxide/dinitrogen tetroxide reaction 2 NO 2(g)
⇌ N 2 O 4(g) Pale brown orange colour.
 THE RATE OF THE FORWARD REACTION = THE RATE
OF THE REVERSE REACTION
 There is a continual interchange of matter between the reactants
and products
 Because even though there is no net change in observable
properties (there is no change to concentrations) an interchange
between reactant and products continue to occur.

  Equilibrium is the state of equal, opposite rates, not

 necessarily equal concentrations.
Static equilibrium:
 in a static equilibrium, as in a dynamic equilibrium, the amounts of
concentration of reactants and products remains constant and both
observed or macroscopic changed have ceased to occur.
 For static equilibrium, the reactions or interchanges between
reactants and products have ceased. The composition of the
reaction mixture remains the same and without any interchanged
within the mixture.
 An example, involves allotropic forms graphite turning into
diamond: C(graphite) C(diamond)
 Reaction is considered equilibrium after it occurs because there are
no more forces acting upon the reactants and products to change
them to products and reactants respectively,

Comparison of the two equilibrium systems:

Feature Equilibrium type

Dynamic Static
Differences reactions forward and reactions
reverse have ceased
reactions
continue to
occur
type of reversible irreversible
reaction
system must be can be closed
closed
Similarities observable no changes can be seen
changes
feature concentrations of products
and reactions are constant

 changes in temperature, pressure, concentration of

reactants/products and other variables cause a system to shift to a
new point of equilibrium. LCP theory.

● conduct practical Reversible and irreversible processes:

investigations to  An irreversible reaction is one that occurs in one direction:
analyse the reactants  products.
 no reactant left at completion of reaction, or all the limiting reactant
reversibility of
is consumed and only the reagent in excess remains.
chemical  Occur in open systems
reactions, for  Example: magnesium is combusted producing a white powder- no
example: reverse reaction.
– cobalt(II)  2Mg(s)+O22MgO(s)
chloride
hydrated and  In a reversible reaction, reacting molecules collide with each other
dehydrated and use energy to break chemical bonds and form new products.
– iron(III)  Example: nitrogen dioxide reacting to produce dinitrogen
nitrate and tetroxide after brown coloured NO 2 is added to a container that
potassium is then sealed ( N 2 O 4 is colourless).
thiocyanate
– burning
magnesium
– burning steel
wool

Examples of reversible reactions:

 hydrated cobalt (ii) Ion/tetrachlorocobalt (ii) ion equilibrium
equilibrium mixture cobalt (ii) complex ions,
pink ¿ ¿ and blue (
CoCL4 ¿ 2−¿ ¿ exist together
in equilibrium in an
aqueous solution.
equation ¿ ¿ CoCL4 ¿ 2−¿ ¿ + 6 H 2 O

reversibility Adding HCL will produce

a blue solution containing
mainly CoCL4 ¿ 2−¿ ¿ while
adding water will restore
the pink colour.
heating will produce a
blue colour whereas
cooling will produce a
pink colour.

 The iron- Thiocyanate equilibrium

equilibrium mixture Iron (iii) thiocyanate Fe
( SCN )3, readily dissolves
I water to give a red
coloured solution due to
the FeSCN 2+¿¿ ion. There
is an equilibrium
between the FeSCN 2+¿¿
and the Fe¿ ¿ ions.
¿
equation FeSCN 2+¿(aq)⇌ Fe ¿ ¿

reversibility add NaSCN: red colour

 deepens
add Fe( NO 3)3: red
colour deepens
add SnCl3: the red
colour changes too pale
red/yellow.
● analyse examples  non-equilibrium systems involve reactions that are effectively
of non- irreversible and never reach an equilibrium state.
equilibrium  Entropy, denoted by the letter ‘S, refers to the number of ways or
states that energy can be distributed to the species (particles) in the
systems in terms
system.
of the effect of  A system’s entropy can be increased in the following ways:
entropy and
 Increasing the number of species in the system
enthalpy, for
example: o Increasing the system’s total energy (e.g. by increasing
– combustion temperature, thus, increasing kinetic energy)
reactions o Increasing the system’s volume
– photosynthesis  by increasing the system’s total energy, (e.g. by increasing
temperature or kinetic energy), average kinetic energy possessed by
particles in the system increases.
 more collisions will occur and so more particles are able to interact
and exchange their energy
o  increase the number of ways in which energy is distributed
throughout the system.
o entropy of the system increases.

 Enthalpy, denoted by the letter H, refers to the total internal

energy present inside a system.
 ‘ΔH ‘. It means change in enthalpy

 thermodynamics equations 
o Change in a system’s entropy = Entropy of products – Entropy
of reactants 
 ΔS (system) = ΔS (products) – ΔS (reactants)
o Change in the surrounding’s entropy = Change in enthalpy of
reaction (Joules) / Temperature of reaction (Kelvins)
 ΔS (surrounding) = ΔH (reaction) / T
o Total change in entropy = Change in system’s entropy +
Change in surrounding’s entropy > 0  
 ΔS (total) = ΔS (system) + ΔS (surroundings) > 0
Combustion:
 irreversible exothermic reactions. For example, combustion of
octane in petrol-
 C8H18(g)+25/2O2(g)→8CO2(g)+9H2O(g)
∆H= -5114kJmol^-1
  Products of this reaction, CO2 and H20 are stable and don’t react
with each other to reform octane and oxygen gas. Reaction is
irreversible it cannot, in a closed system, reach equilibrium.
 Increase in entropy because number of gas molecules in system
increases.
∆H= -5114kJmol^-1
∆ S=¿+384Jmol-1K-1
∆ G=∆ H -T∆ S
¿−5114−¿x 0.384) t is in kelvin so covert to kJmol-1
¿−5257 kJmo l−1
 Spontaneous reaction so it continues to consume the supply of
energy and the products and reactants octane or oxygen until there
is none available.
 Spontaneous non-equilibrium system

Photosynthesis:
 Chemical equation for photosynthesis: 6CO2(g) + 2H2O (l) ->
C6H12O6(s) + 6O2(g)
 Glucose appears as solid because that’s how glucose exists as
standard state (assuming standard state is referring to 25 degrees
Celsius and not referring to 0 degree Celsius. As usual, the pressure
of reaction should occur at 1 atmospheric pressure or 100 kPa.
 What can we say about the change in the system’s entropy for
photosynthesis reaction? 
o It is negative.
o Both side has gas.
 moles of carbon dioxide and 6 moles of oxygen
 the reactant side has a liquid and the product side has
a solid
 The molar ratios of the liquid and solids do not matter
as liquid has greater entropy than solids.
 Therefore, the system’s (plant) entropy decreases after
performing photosynthesis. 
 What can we say about the change in the surrounding’s entropy? 
o Positive.
o the TOTAL change in entropy has both SYSTEM and
SURROUNDING entropy components. 
 What can we say about the change in the system’s enthalpy? 
o Positive.
o If the change in enthalpy is negative, it means that the reaction
is exothermic.
 heat has been lost from the system and the surrounding
environment gains temperature.
o If the change in enthalpy is positive
 it means that the reaction is endothermic.
 Photosynthesis absorbs energy from the sun, it is an endothermic
reaction. Hence, the change in enthalpy is positive. 
 Photosynthesis is an endothermic, non-spontaneous, non-
equilibrium system. The process is couples with spontaneous
 reactions, resulting in a significant amount of heat being lost to the
surroundings and an increase in the entropy of the universe overall.

● investigate the Le Chatelier’s Principle:

relationship  the position of an equilibrium reaction can shift to favour one side
between collision or the other depending on how it was disturbed.
 When a disturbance occurs, the concentrations of one or more
theory and
chemical species involved in an equilibrium reaction is/are
reaction rate in suddenly changes (increased or decreased).
order to analyse  The equilibrium will then favour one side of the reaction so that the
chemical change is partially oddest.
equilibrium  A new equilibrium state is then established
reactions

 Le Chatelier’s principle qualitatively predicts the effects of

disturbances in equilibrium reactions:
 If a change is imposed on a system at equilibrium, the position of
the equilibrium will shift in a way (direction) that tends to
reduce/minimise that change.
 Shifting means favouring one side of a chemical reaction- if the
products side is favoured, then the equilibrium has shifted to the
right
 Means more products are favoured at the expense of the reactants
and overall shifts reaction is toward the right.
Macroscopic properties:
 a constant and observable property of a system in dynamic
equilibrium is called a macroscopic property of that system
properties include:
- pressure (gas)
- volume
- mass of a solid
when the rates of the forward and reverse directions are equal in an
 equilibrium reaction, that is, when dynamic equilibrium is
occurring, the concentrations of all the species remain constant.
- means that one property that a species possesses will remain
constant.
- property is shared by the entire system

what disturbs equilibrium?

change in concentration:
if a substance is added to a system at equilibrium, its concentration
will momentarily increase, and the creation will then shift so as to
re-establish equilibrium by consuming part of the added substance.
- removal of a substance will result in the reaction shifting in
the direction that produces more of that substance.
- for example, the addition of HCL(aq) on the reaction shown
by CO2 (aq) + H20(l) ⇌HCO3-(aq)+H+(aq)
 concentration of the H+ (aq) ions increases
 to minimise the effect of this change, HCO3- will
reach with some of the added H+(aq) ions,
equilibrium position will shift in the reverse
direction
 more CO2 is formed increasing its concentration
until
 a new dynamic equilibrium is established when the
concentrations of all species will remain constant,
and if litmus indicator was added, the constant
macroscopic property of the system will be more
intense red.
change in pressure/volume:
for reactions involving gases, the pressure of gaseous equilibrium
system and its volume is related (when number of molecules and
temperature are kept constant): they are inversely proportional to
each other.
if pressure of a system is doubled, then the volume of this system
must be halved.
liquids and solids are virtually incompressible and therefore this
relationship is not applicable to them.
only gases are affected in pressure changes, doesn’t affect solids or
liquids.
the sum of partial pressures is equal to the total pressure in the
vessel.

change in temperature:
input of heat favours the reverse reaction. according to LCP, if the
stress on the system is the application of heat, the system will
respond by absorbing some of the applied heat.
loss of heat, increase of products, equilibrium will shift to right.
cooling: reduced heat in system equilibrium partially offsets,
decrease in temperature shits to side consequence is reduce umber
of moles in mass. shifts to the right, new equilibrium state is
reached.
 approach any problem concerning disturbance of equilibrium using
this method:
- briefly state the disturbance/change
- state how this affects the concentration of the species in
the equilibrium reaction
- state how the reaction will minimise the effect of this
change, that is, describe which side of the equilibrium
reaction is favoured in accordance to LCP
- describe the new, changed macroscopic property system
if required
- say new equilibrium state has been achieved.

Factors that Affect Equilibrium

Inquiry question: What factors affect equilibrium and how?

Syllabus Dot Point: Notes: Extra Notes:

● investigate the effects of
temperature,
concentration, volume
and/or pressure on a
system at equilibrium
and explain how Le
Chatelier’s principle can
be used to predict such
effects, for example:
– heating cobalt(II)
 chloride hydrate
– interaction between
nitrogen dioxide and
dinitrogen tetroxide
– iron(III) thiocyanate
and varying
concentration of ions

● explain the overall

observations about
equilibrium in terms of
the collision theory
● examine how activation
energy and heat of
reaction affect the
position of equilibrium