What is the equilibrium constant for the reaction 2"CH"_ 2"Cl" _ (2(g)) rightleftharpoons "CH"_ (4(g)) + "CCl"_ (4(g))2CH2Cl2(g)CH4(g)+CCl4(g) ?

Given that, at equilibrium, the vessel contains:

["CH"_2"Cl"_2] = "0.021 M"[CH2Cl2]=0.021 M
["CH"_4] = "0.2 M"[CH4]=0.2 M
["CCl"_4] = "0.2 M"[CCl4]=0.2 M

1 Answer
Aug 22, 2017

K_c = 90Kc=90

Explanation:

The equilibrium reaction given to you looks like this

2"CH"_ 2"Cl" _ (2(g)) rightleftharpoons "CH"_ (4(g)) + "CCl"_ (4(g))2CH2Cl2(g)CH4(g)+CCl4(g)

Now, the equilibrium constant takes into account the equilibrium concentrations of the products and of the reactants and the stoichiometric coefficients that correspond to them.

More specifically, the equilibrium constant is calculated by dividing the product of the equilibrium concentrations of the products raised to the power of their respective stoichiometric coefficients by the product of the equilibrium concentrations of the reactants raised to the power of their respective stoichiometric coefficients.

In this case, you have

  • "CH"_4 -> "no coefficient = coefficient of 1"CH4no coefficient = coefficient of 1
  • "CCl"_4 -> "no coefficient = coefficient of 1"CCl4no coefficient = coefficient of 1
  • "CH"_2"Cl"_2 -> "coefficient of 2"CH2Cl2coefficient of 2

The equilibrium constant will take the form

K_c = (["CH"_4]^1 * ["CCl"_4]^1)/(["CH"_2"Cl"_2]^2)Kc=[CH4]1[CCl4]1[CH2Cl2]2

which is equivalent to

K_c= (["CH"_4] * ["CCl"_4])/(["CH"_2"Cl"_2]^2)Kc=[CH4][CCl4][CH2Cl2]2

To find the actual value of the equilibrium constant at the given temperature, plug in the values you have for the equilibrium concentrations of the three chemical species

K_c = (0.2 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("M"))) * 0.2 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("M"))))/(0.021^2 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("M"^2)))) = 90

The answer is rounded to one significant figure.