I do not understand Le Chatelier's Principle - please help!

LeChaterlier's principle states: 'If a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by changing the conditions, the position of equilibrium moves to counteract the change'. In short, this helps us to work out HOW changing a factor of the reaction will affect the position of equilibrium. If we have the reversible reaction: 'A + 2B <---> C + D' (where A and B are reactants and C + D are the desired reaction products), Le Chatelier's principle tells us that if we increase the concentration of A the position of equilibrium will move to decrease the concentration of A, i.e. it will move towards the product side of the reaction, meaning more product will be formed and there will be a lowering in the concentration of A through a reaction with B. This is particularly useful in industry or research where one of your reactants is expensive but the other is cheap - you can increase the yield of your reaction by increasing the concentration of your cheap reactant, pushing the position of equilibrium towards the products without having to increase the concentration of your expensive reactant. Similarly, decreasing the concentration of A would move the position of equilibrium towards the reactants to counteract this change and increase the concentration of A (meaning C + D would react to form A + 2B) The principle can also be used to see how changing the temperature of the reaction will affect the equilibrium position. If the forward reaction (A +2B ---> C + D) is exothermic (i.e. gives out heat, making the reaction mixture hotter), the backward reaction (C+ D ---> A + 2B) must be endothermic (i.e. absorbs heat decreasing the overall temperature of the reaction mixture). Thus, increasing the reaction mixture ourselves will push the position of equilibrium towards the left, allowing the system to absorb more heat and reducing the temperature of the system. Similarly, if all our reactants and products were gases, the side with more molecules on it would have a higher pressure than the side with fewer molecules (so in our example, 'A + 2B' would have the higher pressure, as there are 3 molecules on this side as opposed to only 2 on the 'C + D' side). Therefore, increasing the pressure would push the position of equilibrium towards the side with fewer molecules on it (in our case, the C + D side).  Decreasing the pressure would result in the opposite effect, with the position of equilibrium moving towards A + 2B to increase the pressure of the system! 

JS
Answered by James S. Chemistry tutor

2917 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

Part a) Draw the mechanism of the attack of CN- on CH3COCH3 in the presence of HCN Part b) Explain why the product of this reaction does not rotate the plane of plane polarised light


Explain why the second ionisation energy of Magnesium is lower than the second ionisation energy of Sodium.


20cm3 of 0.5moldm-3 of HCL is diluted by adding 15cm3 of water. This diluted solution is titrated against a 0.3moldm-3 solution of NaOH. What is the volume of the NaOH in cm3 required to reach the endpoint of the titration?


Explain the geometry and bond angles in a NH3 molecule


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences