Question #96bac

1 Answer
Mar 23, 2015

The equilibrium constant for this reaction is K_c = 110.

I'll assume that the initial number of moles of I_2 is equal to the initial number of moles of Br_2.

So, you know that you're dealing with an equilibrium between I_2 and Br_2 on one side, and IBr on the other side. Notice that the equilibrium concentration of IBr is larger than the initial concentrations of the reactans.

If you start with only reactants in the flask, the fact that you have more product at equilibrium than you had reactants inititially tells you that K_c is greater than 1.

The initial concentrations of the reactants are

C_(I_2) = C_(Br_2) = n/V = "0.500 moles"/"1 L" = "0.5 M"

To determine the actual value of the equilibrium constant, use the ICE chart method (more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RICE_chart).

.......I_2 + Br_2 rightleftharpoons color(red)(2)IBr
I......0.5.......0.5..............0
C...(-x).........(-x)............color(red)(+2x)
E..0.5-x......0.5-x..........0.840

Since 2x = 0.840, the value of x will be

x = 0.840/2 = "0.420"

This means that the equilibrium concentrations of the reactants will be

[I_2] = [Br_2] = 0.5 - 0.420 = "0.08 M"

The value of K_c will be

K_c = 0.840^(2)/(0.08 * 0.08) = 110.25

Since you've been a little inconsistent with the number of sig figs given, I'll round the answer to three sig figs (although that 1L volume would call for rounding to one sig fig)

K_c = color(red)(110.)