An equilibrium mixture of SO2, O2, and SO3 gases at 1500 K is determined to consist of 0.344 mol/L SO2, 0.172 mol/L O2, and 0.56 mol/L SO3. What is the equilibrium constant for the system at this temperature? The balanced equation for this reaction is 2SO2(g) + O2(g) 2SO3(g).

Question

An equilibrium mixture of SO2, O2, and SO3 gases at 1500 K is determined to consist of 0.344 mol/L SO2, 0.172 mol/L O2, and 0.56 mol/L SO3. What is the equilibrium constant for the system at this temperature? The balanced equation for this reaction is 2SO2(g) + O2(g) <--> 2SO3(g).

anonymous · Answer

SO2+O2-->SO3
2SO2+O2-->2SO3

It would be expressed as $$\frac{[SO3]^2}{[SO2]^2[O2]}$$

Now to find the equillibrium constant we'd put the molarities in their respective places, SO3 is .56 L/mol, SO2 is .344 L/mol, and O2 is .172 L/mol

$$\frac{ [.56]^2 }{ [.344]^2[.172]}$$

$$\frac{ .3136 }{ .019187632 } = 16.3438615041$$

We are limited to only 3 significant figures, so your answer would be 16.3.