Removing reactants from a system at equilibrium will shift the equilibriumnot at allto the leftto the right
Question
Removing reactants from a system at equilibrium will shift the equilibrium
- not at all
- to the left
- to the right
Solution
Removing reactants from a system at equilibrium will shift the equilibrium to the left. This is due to Le Chatelier's principle, which states that if a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by changing the conditions, the position of equilibrium shifts to counteract the change.
Here are the steps:
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A system at equilibrium is a system where the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the reverse reaction.
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When you remove reactants from this system, you disturb the equilibrium.
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According to Le Chatelier's principle, the system will try to counteract this disturbance.
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In this case, to counteract the removal of reactants, the system will try to produce more reactants.
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This is achieved by shifting the position of equilibrium to the left, i.e., favoring the reverse reaction which produces more reactants.
So, the answer is: the equilibrium will shift to the left.
Similar Questions
Adding reactants to a system at equilibrium will shift the equilibriumTo the leftTo the rightNot at all
A system can be said to be in chemical equilibrium when (Choose all correct answers -- there may be more than one!)
TRUE OR FALSE: At equilibrium, the concentrations of reactants and products are equal.
True or false? Only reversible reactions in open systems can reach equilibrium.
Equilibrium is reached when the forward reaction happens at exactly the same __________ as the backward reaction. What one word completes this sentence?
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