Question #9bbc5

1 Answer
Apr 1, 2016

Here's what I got.

Explanation:

Start by writing the balanced chemical equation for this equilibrium reaction

color(red)(2)"NO"_ (2(g)) rightleftharpoons color(blue)(2)"NO"_ ((g)) + "O"_(2(g))2NO2(g)2NO(g)+O2(g)

The first thing to notice here is that the equilibrium constant for this reaction

K_c = 1.2 * 10^(-5)Kc=1.2105

is smaller than 11. This tells you that the equilibrium lies to the left, i.e. the reverse reaction is favored.

In other words, you can expect the equilibrium concentrations of the two reactants, nitric oxide, "NO"NO, and oxygen gas, "O"_2O2, to be significantly smaller than the equilibrium concentration of the reactant, nitrogen dioxide, "NO"_2NO2.

Use the number of moles of nitrogen dioxide and the volume of the reaction vessel to determine the initial concentration of the reactant

["NO"_2] = "0.50 moles"/"2.0 L" = "0.25 M"[NO2]=0.50 moles2.0 L=0.25 M

Use an ICE table to help you determine the equilibrium concentrations of the three chemical species

" "color(red)(2)"NO"_ (2(g)) " "rightleftharpoons" " color(blue)(2)"NO"_ ((g)) " "+" " "O"_(2(g)) 2NO2(g) 2NO(g) + O2(g)

color(purple)("I")color(white)(aaaaacolor(black)("0.25)aaaaaaaaaaaacolor(black)(0)aaaaaaaaaaacolor(black)(0))Iaaaaa0.25aaaaaaaaaaaa0aaaaaaaaaaa0
color(purple)("C")color(white)(aaacolor(black)((-color(red)(2)x))aaaaaaaacolor(black)((+color(blue)(2)x))aaaaaaacolor(black)((+x))Caaa(2x)aaaaaaaa(+2x)aaaaaaa(+x)
color(purple)("E")color(white)(aaacolor(black)(0.25-color(red)(2)x)aaaaaaaaacolor(black)(color(blue)(2)x)aaaaaaaaaacolor(black)(x)Eaaa0.252xaaaaaaaaa2xaaaaaaaaaax

By definition, the equilibrium constant for this reaction will look like this

K_c = (["O"_2] * ["NO"]^color(blue)(2))/(["NO"_2]^color(red)(2))Kc=[O2][NO]2[NO2]2

In this case, you will have

K_c =(x * (color(blue)(2)x)^color(blue)(2))/((0.25 - color(red)(2)x)^color(red)(2)Kc=x(2x)2(0.252x)2

K_c = (4x^3)/(0.25 - 2x)^2Kc=4x3(0.252x)2

Now, because K_cKc is so small, you can use the following approximation

0.25 - 2x ~~ 0.250.252x0.25

This means that you'll have

K_c = (4x^3)/0.25^2Kc=4x30.252

This will get you

x = root(3)( (K_c * 0.25^2)/4) = root(3)((1.2 * 10^(-5) * 0.0625)/4)x=3Kc0.2524=31.21050.06254

x = 0.005724x=0.005724

The equilibrium concentrations of the three species will thus be

["NO"_2] = "0.25 M" - color(red)(2) * "0.005724 M" = "0.2386 M"[NO2]=0.25 M20.005724 M=0.2386 M

["NO"] = color(blue)(2) * "0.005724 M" = "0.01145 M"[NO]=20.005724 M=0.01145 M

["O"_2] = "0.005724 M"[O2]=0.005724 M

Rounded to two sig figs, the answers will be

["NO"_2] = color(green)(|bar(ul(color(white)(a/a)"0.24 M"color(white)(a/a)|)))

["NO"] = color(green)(|bar(ul(color(white)(a/a)"0.011 M"color(white)(a/a)|)))

["O"_2] = color(green)(|bar(ul(color(white)(a/a)"0.0057 M"color(white)(a/a)|)))

As predicted, the equilibrium concentrations of the products are significantly smaller than the equilibrium concentration of the reactant.