Question

I just need a quick explanation on this.
Like a fast way to grasp this concept.
I don't really understand how I would know wether reactants or products are being favored in an Equilibrium problem.
Ex:
K=[I]^2/[I2]
- I know that that the top is the Conc. product.
-The Denominator is the Conc. Constant.
How would I figure out which one is being favored?
*I already have the answer by the way and it's that the reactant is being favored.. But i don't understand why..
I would really appreciate some help!!(:

Answer 1

K is the ratio between the products and the reactants. If you have more products than reactants at equilibrium then the fraction which K is equal to has a numerator that is greater than the denominator. This means that K will be greater than one. If you have more reactants than products at equilibrium then the numerator will be smaller than the denominator and K will be less than one. Reactants are favored if you have more reactants than products and products are favored if you have more products than reactants at equilibrium. A quick summery is if K<1 reactants are favored and if K>1 products are favored for the reasons described above.

Answer 2

Thank you for replying!
I kinda figured because it says that in my notes but what threw me off is that, on certain equations, even if there is only one product and 2 reactants, the product is favored. How could that be? I mean they are balanced out and everything so like in the example I gave above there is 2 I's on top and bottom. How would I know which one is being favored in that particular case.
What would I do then?

Answer 3

even if there is only one product and 2 reactants, the product is favored. How could that be?
it cant be true always :)

Answer 4

I understand it can't always be true, I just wanted to know why? There must be some sort of explanation..

Answer 5

it all depends on the Delta G for that reaction :) u take any reaction it depends on this factor if its -ve then its possible if its +ve then its difficult :)

Answer 6

An equilibrium reaction can proceed in both directions. If you have an equilibrium between Carbon monoxide (CO) , oxygen gas (O2) and on the right side carbon dioxide (CO2) then you have and equilibrium reaction between the reactant and products .

That is the same as saying that two reactions are taking place
(C\[2CO + O_2 \rightarrow 2CO_2 \]
(C\[2CO + O_2 \leftarrow 2CO_2 \]
These two reactions have different rates, (they go at different speeds), The equations don't tell you how fast the reaction happens they only tell you how a certain reaction happens when it does happen. How often each reaction happens is not shown by the two reaction equations. The two reactions above are in competition with each other, and there is a certain amount of concentrations where both of the reactions proceed at the same rate. When both reactions proceed at the same rate equilibrium occurs.