Write the expression for the equilibrium constant for the following reactions ? 2SO2(g) + O2(g) -------> 2SO3(g)
What is equilibrium constant?
What is equilibrium constant?
1 Answer
Explanation:
For a chemical equilibrium, the equilibrium constant is defined as the ratio between the product of the equilibrium concentrations of the products and the product of the equilibrium concentrations of the reactants, all raised to the power of their respective stoichiometric coefficients.
For a general form equilibrium reaction
color(blue)(aA + bB rightleftharpoons cC + dD)" " , where
the equilibrium constant,
color(blue)(K_c = ([C]^c * [D]^d)/([A]^a * [B]^b))
Here
Now take a look at the equilibrium given to you
color(red)(2)"SO"_text(2(g]) + "O"_text(2(g]) rightleftharpoons color(blue)(2)"SO"_text(3(g])
Notice that your reaction has two reactants,
More specifically, the equilibrium constant will be
K_c = ( ["SO"_3]^color(blue)(2))/( ["SO"_2]^color(red)(2) * ["O"_2])
SIDE NOTE Since you're dealing with an equilibrium reaction, you can write the equilibrium constant for the reverse reaction,
color(blue)(2)"SO"_text(3(g]) rightleftharpoons color(red)(2)"SO"_text(2(g]) + "O"_text(2(g])
This time, you have one product and two reactants, so the equilibrium constant will take the form
K_c^' = (["SO"_2]^color(red)(2) * ["O"_2])/(["SO"_3]^color(blue)(2))
Notice that