Industrial chemical reactions - HigherReaching equilibrium - Higher
The conditions chosen for an industrial reaction are related to producing an acceptable yield in an acceptable time. Different reaction pathways are often available to produce a given product.
When a reversible reactionA chemical reaction which can go both ways. happens in a closed container, it reaches a dynamic equilibriumIn chemical reactions, a situation where the forward and backward reactions happen at the same rate, and the concentrations of the substances stay the same.. At equilibrium:
the forward and backward reactions are still happening
the forward and backward reactions have the same rate of reaction
the concentrationThe concentration of a solution tells us how much of a substance is dissolved in water. The higher the concentration, the more particles of the substance are present. of all the reacting substances remain constant (they do not change)
The equilibrium positionA measure of the relative concentrations of substances in an equilibrium, showing if there are more reactants or products at equilibrium. of a reversible reaction is a measure of the concentrations of the reacting substances at equilibrium. For example:
2SO2(g) + O2(g) ⇌ 2SO3(g)
The equilibrium position is:
to the left if the concentrations of SO2 and O2 are greater than the concentration of SO3
to the right if the concentration of SO3 is greater than the concentrations of SO2 and O2
