For the reaction NH4HS(s)NH3(g)+H2S(g), Kc=1.2104 at 491K. What concentration of NH3 will be present at equilibrium if a sample of NH4HS is placed in a vessel at 491K?

1 Answer
May 24, 2015

The equilibrium concentration of ammonia will be equqal to 1.1102M.

Even before doing any calculations, you can look at the magnitude of the equilibrium constant, Kc, and predict what's going to happen when you place the ammonium hydrosulfide in the vessel.

The first important thing to notice is that ammonium hydrosulfide is actually a solid. This means that its concentration is assumed to be constant during the reaction.

This is why the problem doesn't provide an initial concentration for the ammonium hydrosulfide.

Moreover, since Kc is smaller than 1, the equilibrium will lie to the left, favoring the reactant. This means that you can expect smaller equilibrium concentrations, compared with that of the reactant, which will remain unchanged, for both products.

Use an ICE table to help you determine what the equilibrium concentrations of the two products will be

NH4SH(s)NH3(g)+H2S(g)
I.................................0...............0
C..............................(+x)............(+x)
E................................x................x

The expression of the eequilibrium constant will look like this

Kc=[NH3][H2S]=xx=x2

This means that x will be equal to

x=Kc=1.2104=0.01095

Rounded to two sig figs, the equilibrium concentration of ammonia will thus be

[NH3]=1.1102M