All AP Chemistry Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #12 : Le Chatelier's Principle
Consider the following balanced chemical equation:
What will be the effect on the concentration of if the overall pressure of the system increases, but the volume remains constant? Why?
There will be no effect on because the number of molecules of gas is the same on both sides
The concentration of will increase because of added heat
The concentration of will decrease because of added heat
The concentration of will decrease because that will counteract the increased pressure
The concentration of will increase because that will counteract the increased pressure
The concentration of will increase because of added heat
To answer this question we need to combine our knowledge of a few different subjects. Under normal cicrumstances, when determining the effects of a system pressure change, we compare the number of moles of gas on either side of the equilibrium. In this case, there are 2 moles of gas on either side, which means that neither side is favored in terms of pressure changes.
However, we consider that in this case, the pressure is increasing while the volume remains constant. Since the total moles of gas cannot be changed in a closed system, we have to conclude that increased pressure results in increased temperature. If is greater than , then must also be greater than .
Since this reaction is exothermic, increasing the temperature (i.e. adding heat) causes the reaction to shift to the left; therefore, the concentration of increases.
Example Question #81 : Reactions And Equilibrium
Consider the following reaction:
What will happen to the equilibrium constant if the concentration of is increased? Why?
The equilibrium constant will increase because the concentration of has increased
None of the other answers
The equilibrium constant will decrease because the reaction will shift towards the reactants
Nothing, because the equilibrium constant is not affected by concentration changes
The equilibrium constant will go through an unclear change because it is temperature dependent
The equilibrium constant will go through an unclear change because it is temperature dependent
By Le Chatelier's principle, when a concentration on the right side increases, the reaction shifts towards the left side in order to balance out the disturbance to equilibrium. In doing so, heat will be consumed along with , which will lower the temperature of the system. Since the equilibrium constant is temperature dependent its value will change, but without experimental observation it is not entirely clear how it will change.
It is true that concentration changes normally do not affect the equilibrium constant, but because in this case temperature is affected by concentration changes, that rule does not hold.
Example Question #15 : Le Chatelier's Principle
Anaerobic respiration is a very important process for humans; both in the sense of survival (in humans: lactic acid fermentation), and in the sense of recreation (the utilization of yeast to produce ethanol from glucose under anaerobic conditions). The following is the balanced chemical equation for the production of ethanol from glucose as is employed in the production of wine and beer:
This reaction is exothermic, and is therefore used by yeast to provide energy.
Assume the above reaction starts at equilibrium. Which of the following changes to the system will cause the reaction quotient to become less than the equilibrium constant ?
Removal of
Addition of
Addition of
Addition of thereby decreasing the concentration of products
Increasing the temperature of the system, thereby providing activation energy
Addition of
General formula for the reaction quotient:
Since the reaction starts at equilibrium the initial value of the reaction quotient is equal to the equilibrium constant.
When , the reaction is at equilibrium.
When , the reaction favors the reactant(s).
When , the reaction favors the product(s).
For this problem:
Since the reaction started at equilibrium at this problem, initially . Therefore in order to make the (and therefore favor the production of products) we must alter the above equation for to have a smaller value. There are many ways to do this. We can reduce the concentration or either or both of the products, and/or we can increase the concentration of reactant.
Incorrect answers and explanations:
Removal of decreases the concentration of reactant and would cause
Addition of increases the concentration of product and would cause
Increasing the temperature of the system, thereby providing activation energy is incorrect because this is an exothermic reaction and therefore energy (in this case in the form of heat) is considered a product and would cause . Also it is worth noting that changing the activation energy of a reaction only changes the rate of the reaction, not the direction in which it proceeds.
Addition of thereby decreasing the concentration of products would not change the value of , because adding will also decrease the concentration or the reactants by the same factor.
Correct answer and explanation:
Addition of is the only answer which will alter the value of to be less than , because addition of will increase the concentration of reactants. This increases the value of the denominator in the following equation :
Since dividing by a larger number results in a lower value for , the addition of results in (when the reaction starts at equilibrium, if the reaction didn't start at equilibrium increasing the concentration of glucose will still lower the value of , but we would need more information to know if it decreased it enough to be less than .
Example Question #12 : Le Chatelier's Principle
Consider the following reaction:
Which of the following changes would be expected to drive the reaction to the left?
A decrease in pressure
An increase in pressure
Reducing the amount of in the reaction vessel
Addition of water to the reaction mixture
An increase in pressure
For this question, we're given a reversible reaction and are asked to identify conditions which would drive the reaction towards the left. In order to answer this, we'll need to understand the fundamentals of Le Chatelier's principle. The basic idea of this principle is that whenever stress is added to a system that is in equilibrium, that system will establish a new equilibrium in order to handle the added stress.
In this question, we can see that both reactant and product are gases. However, they differ in amount. For every one mole of reactant, two moles of product are made. This is an important distinction that will allow us to get our answer. Whenever a system in equilibrium is composed of gases, increased pressure will favor the gas that can exist in a smaller amount. Conversely, decreased pressure will favor the gas that can exist in a greater amount. The relevance that this has to this question is that increased pressure will actually push the reaction to the left, since it is the reactant that can exist in fewer moles as a gas. A decrease in pressure would be expected to have the opposite effect, as it would increase the amount of product and thus would drive the reaction to the right. Reducing the amount of product in the reaction vessel would also be expected to have the opposite effect, as the system would respond by producing more product in order to help offset the loss. And finally, there is no indication of whether the addition of water would have any kind of effect on the reaction equilibrium in this question, thus there is no way to tell.
Example Question #11 : Le Chatelier's Principle
Self-ionization of water is endothermic. What is the value of the sum pH + pOH at ?
Less than 14
Equal to 14
It is impossible to determine without more information
Greater than 14
Less than 14
Recall that ion-product constant of water, , is at and .
An endothermic reaction signifies that heat is at the reactant side. By the LeChatelier's principle, increased heat to shifts the equilibrium to the right side, favoring the increase of and . This means that and both increase, decreasing pH and pOH to less than 7, each. As a result, pH + pOH is less than 14.
Example Question #11 : Le Chatelier's Principle
Which of the following does not affect the equilbrium of a reaction?
Le Chatelier's principle states that the concentration of reactants/products, the addition/subtraction of heat, and changing the volume of a reaction would all be factors that affect equilibrium. A catalyst alters the reaction rate without changing equilibrium.
Example Question #41 : Chemical Equilibrium
What is occuring when a mixture reaches a dynamic equilibrium state?
Only the forward reaction is occurring
Neither reaction is occurring; the mixture is completely static
The forward and reverse reactions are occurring at the same rate
Only the reverse reaction is occurring
The forward and reverse reactions are occurring at the same rate
Dynamic equilibrium means that the forward and reverse reactions are occurring at the same rate so that there is no net change in the concentrations.
Example Question #41 : Chemical Equilibrium
Which of the following accurately describes what occurs in reversible reactions?
The reaction can proceed in both the forward and reverse directions, and these reactions always go to completion.
The reaction can proceed in the forward direction to completion.
The reaction can proceed in both the forward and reverse directions, and these reactions do not usually go to completion.
none of the above
The reaction can proceed in both the forward and reverse directions, and these reactions do not usually go to completion.
The definition of reversible reactions is that they are indeed reversible; in other words, they can proceed in the forward and reverse directions. Since the products can react as well to reform the reactants, these reactions usually do not proceed to completion and instead exist in a dynamic state.
Example Question #1 : System Equilibrium
Consider the following reaction:
The equilibrium constant, , is 0.367.
In a reaction flask, you have a solution containing , , and . Will the reaction proceed forward (to the right), or backwards (to the left)?
The reaction will proceed both to the right and two the left, but at equal rates
The reaction will proceed to the right
None of the available answers
The reaction will not proceed
The reaction will proceed to the left
The reaction will proceed to the left
For the reaction:
The expression for the equilibrium constant is:
The reaction quotient is:
The reaction quotient is much larger than the equilibrium constant, so the reaction will proceed to the left.
Example Question #81 : Reactions And Equilibrium
Which of the following is not always true for the given arbitrary reaction in equilibrium?
The molar concentrations of reactants and products are equal
The forward and reverse reaction rates are equal
Each choice is always true for this equilibrium reaction
The molar concentrations of reactants and products are equal
The forward and reverse reaction rates are equal for reactions in equilibrium, however, the molar concentration of the reactants and products are usually not equal themselves. One can calculate the equilibrium constant using the equation below.
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