Abstract

Chemical equilibrium is a state of the reaction when the rate of forward reaction is equal to the
rate of backward reaction. The factors that affect equilibrium are change in concentration,
change in temperature, and change in pressure or volume. These factors add stress to the
equilibrium causing the shift of equilibrium to favor the forward or backward reaction. The effect
of concentration on the equilibrium is shown on the first part of the experiment where certain
chemicals that affect the concentration were added to the equilibrium solution. Some chemicals
increased the concentration of reactants thus, the equilibrium shifts to the forward reaction
producing more products and turning darker than the standard to counteract that change. Other
chemicals reduced the concentration of the reactants thus, the equilibrium shifted to the
backward reaction creating more reactants and turning lighter than the standard. On the second
part of the experiment, the effect of temperature on the equilibrium is studied. The results show
that when temperature is increased through the hot water bath, equilibrium shifts to the
backward reaction and the solution became lighter than standard since the system absorbs heat
in order to decompose and form reactants. When temperature is decreased through the cold
water bath, equilibrium shifts to the forward reaction and the solution became darker than
standard because the system releases heat to form products. Lastly, when volume is increased
and pressure decreases, the equilibrium shifts to the backward reaction creating more reactants
to reach equilibrium. The opposite happens when volume decreases and pressure increases –
the equilibrium shifts to the forward reaction creating more products.

Introduction
Chemical equilibrium is a state of the reaction when the rate of forward reaction is equal
to the rate of backward reaction. This means that there is no net change in concentrations of
products and reactants.
There are different factors that affect the chemical equilibrium of reaction. These factors
are change in concentration, change in temperature, and change in volume or pressure. These
factors add stress to the equilibrium causing the shift of equilibrium to favor the forward or
backward reaction.
The first factor tells us that the change in concentration whether it’s the product or
reactant side, affects the equilibrium. When you add more reactants to a reaction, the reaction
will counteract this change in concentration of reactants by producing more products thus,
favoring the forward reaction. On the other hand, adding more products favors the backward
reaction because more products will decompose into reactants to reach equilibrium.
The change in temperature also shifts the position of the equilibrium in order to
counteract that change. An endothermic reaction is favored by increasing the temperature. The
position of the equilibrium will shift in the direction that absorbs heat to counteract the increase
in temperature. An exothermic reaction is favored by a decreasing the temperature. The
equilibrium shifts in the direction that releases heat to absorb pressure.
The change in pressure also adds stress to the equilibrium. We know that if pressure
increases or the volume decreases, the equilibrium will shift in the direction where products are
formed which is the forward reaction because products form fewer total gas moles to achieve
equilibrium. The opposite happens when pressure is decreased or volume is increased. The
equilibrium shifts in the direction where reactants are formed which is the backward reaction in
order to counteract the change in pressure or volume.
All of these that we know will be put to test in this experiment. In this experiment, we will
add all the kinds of stresses unto the equilibrium and see if the results prove what we already
know. This is experiment is significant because it helps us identify where the shift of equilibrium
is when different kinds of stresses are added to it. There are many examples of chemical
equilibrium that happens every day. All of which are essential to our life. That is why we need to
do this experiment in order to understand these processes and if possible, predict results of a
reaction before it has happened.

Methodology
The following procedures are followed in this experiment:
A. Effect of the Concentration
1.) Measure 1ml of 0.1M Fe(NO3)3 and 1ml of 0.1M KSCN and add them to 25ml distilled
water in a beaker.
2.) Add 1ml of this solution to each of the eight vials. Label the vials from 1-7 and use vial #1
as your color standard.
3.) In vial #2, add 5 drops of 0.1M Fe(NO3)3, mix and write you observation comparing it to
vial #1.
4.) In vial #3, add 5 drops of 0.1M KSCN, mix and observe.
5.) In vial #4, add 5 drops of 0.1M SnCl2, mix and observe.
6.) In vial #5, add 5 drops of 0.1M AgNO3, mix and observe.
7.) In vial #6, add 5 drops of 0.1M Na2HPO4, mix and observe.
8.) In vial #7, add 5 drops of 0.1M NH3, mix and observe
9.) In vial #8, add 5 drops of 0.1M HCL, mix and observe.
10.) Write all your observations in a table.

B. Effect of Temperature
1.) Put about 5ml of the iron-thiocyanate solution into three test tubes. Use test tube #1 as
your color standard.
2.) To test tube #2, add 10 drops of water and put this test tube in a hot water bath with a
temperature of around 60-70C. Record any color change observed after 10 minutes.
3.) To test tube #3, do the same but this time, put the test tube in a cold water bath using a
beaker containing ice and water. Record any color change observed after 10 minutes.

C. Effect of Pressure or Volume

1.) In an industrial ammonia plant, conditions are chosen. Unfortunately, the reaction at 25C
is slow thus several factors should be considered to produce ammonia. Make predictions
for the following disturbance to the equilibrium system of the example below.

N2(g) + 3H2(g)  2NH3(g)

2.) If ammonia reacts with carbon dioxide to produce urea, what condition should be applied
to favor more production of urea? (High temperature or high pressure)
 2NH3(g) + CO2(g)  (NH2)2CO(s) + H2O(g)

Results
A. Effect of the Concentration
Vial # Initial Color Substance Added Final Color Shift of Equilibrium
1
2 Fe(NO3)3
Darker than standard Forward
3 KSCN
4 SnCl2
Red orange
5 AgNO3
6 Na2HPO4 Lighter than standard Backward
7 NH3
8 HCl

B. Effect of Temperature
Shift of
Test Tube # Initial Color Kind of Water Bath Final Color
Equilibrium
1
Lighter than
2 Hot Water Bath Backward
Red orange standard
Darker than
3 Cold Water Bath Forward
standard

C. Effect of Pressure or Volume

Disturbance added to the system
1. Increasing temperature of the
reaction
2. Increasing pressure
3. Increasing volume
4. Decreasing pressure
Determine more reactants or
Shift of Equilibrium
products formed
Backward More reactants formed
Forward More products formed
Backward More products formed

If ammonia reacts with carbon dioxide to produce urea, what condition should be applied to
favor more production of urea? (High temperature or high pressure)

2NH3(g) + CO2(g)  (NH2)2CO(s) + H2O(g)

The condition that should be applied to favor more production of urea is the condition of
pressure. This is because high pressure decreases volume which means that the equilibrium shift
in the direction where more urea is produced which is the forward reaction since the product
which is urea takes up less space and is favorable for a decrease in volume.
Discussion

For the first part of the experiment, the net ionic equation of the solution in the 8 vials is
presented below:
Fe3+(aq) + SCN-(aq)  FeSCN2+(aq)

For vial #2, the shift of equilibrium favors the forward reaction because adding Fe(NO 3)3
to the solution means adding more reactant which is the Fe3+ ion and so to counteract this, more
products are formed to reach chemical equilibrium again.
In the third vial, the final color is darker than the standard which means more products
are formed. This is because the reaction counteracts the addition of SCN- ions. Thus, the added
reactants are consumed to form products and reach equilibrium again.
For vial #4, this is an equation that shows the reduction of iron from Fe 3+ to Fe2+ due to
the addition of SnCl2:
Fe3+(aq) + Sn2+(aq)  Fe2+(aq) + Sn4+(aq)

Because iron is reduced, this means that there is less concentration of the reactant. To
counteract this change, the equilibrium shifts in the direction where products decompose to form
reactants. That is why the final color of the vial is lighter than standard.
This is the equation that represents what is happening in vial #5 after adding AgNO 3:

Ag+(aq) + SCN-(aq)  AgSCN(s)

Based on the equation, some of the SCN- ions reacted with Ag+ lessening the amount of
the reactants. Thus, the equilibrium favors the backward reaction wherein products decompose
into reactants to counteract the change in concentration of reactants.
(ADD VIAL #6 AND #7 DISCUSSION HAAAAA!)
For the eighth vial, this is the equation that shows the reaction happening in the system:

Fe3+(aq) + 3Cl-(aq)  FeCl3(aq)

This shows that some of the Fe3+ ions react with Cl- ions in the HCl resulting in the lesser
number of reactants available to produce FeSCN2+. Thus, the equilibrium shifts in the backward
reaction making the products decompose into reactants to achieve equilibrium again.
In the second part of the experiment, there are 2 conditions presented. The first condition
is the increase in temperature. This equation shows the role of heat in achieving equilibrium
again:
Fe3+(aq) + SCN-(aq)  FeSCN2+(aq) + heat

The equation shows that the products side absorb the heat from the hot water bath in
order to decompose into reactants. This explains why its final color is lighter than the standard
since the shift of equilibrium favors the backward reaction.
For the second condition, temperature was decreased. Here is the equation about this
reaction:
 heat
Fe3+(aq) + SCN-(aq)  FeSCN2+(aq)

The equation tells us that the equilibrium shifts in the direction to the products side
because reactants release heat when they combine and form products thus, there is a decrease
in temperature. That is why the solution is darker than the standard because it favors the forward
reaction.
For the third part of the experiment, we found out that increasing or decreasing either
pressure or volume affects the shift of equilibrium. Increasing temperature also increases volume
since the 2 are directly proportional. Because there is increase in volume, there is more space for
the molecules to occupy and so, the shift of equilibrium favors the backward reaction forming
more reactants. When it comes to pressure and volume, the 2 have an inverse relationship. If
you increase pressure, volume decreases and so, more products are formed favoring the forward
the reaction. If you decrease pressure, then volume is increased, and the equilibrium shifts in the
forward direction. The important thing to remember is that when volume increases, the shift of
equilibrium favors the backward direction and when volume decreases, the equilibrium shifts to
the forward reaction.
Lastly, the condition that favors the production of more urea is high pressure because this
means that there is less volume and there would be lesser moles of molecules that occupy this
volume.

Conclusion
In conclusion, whenever an experimental stress is added to the chemical equilibrium, it
shifts forward or backward to counteract the change it experienced until it is back to the
equilibrium state. The 3 factors stated are used in the experiment to show how the equilibrium
shifts forward or backward depending on the effect of the factor. When the equilibrium shifts to
the forward direction, this means that more products are formed. When the equilibrium shifts to
the backward direction, this means that more reactants are formed.
Knowing all of these would help us understand what is going on inside our bodies because
there are a lot of chemical equilibrium reactions happening in our bodies that are essential for
us to live. If something is malfunctioning in our bodies and the chemical equilibrium reactions
don’t reach equilibrium, then we would know what to do because we understand chemical
equilibrium and how the factors affect equilibrium.
Not only is chemical equilibrium present in our bodies, but it is also useful in business
industries because we would know how to control certain variables in a reaction to get what we
desire whether it is the reactants or the products.
Our misconception about a reaction happening only once is corrected with this
experiment. This experiment revealed that forward and backward reactions simultaneously
happen in order to reach equilibrium, but these are not noticeable unless there is a stress added
on the equilibrium.