Explain what it means when a system in equilibrium shifts to favor the products.

Question

Explain what it means when a system in equilibrium shifts to favor the products.

Answer 1

It means there is more products being produced then reagents.(it works both ways)

Its like a balancing act, where the activation energy favors the products.

Answer 2

It means that there was a balance in the reactants and products but then at some point due to some force the reaction start to form more product. This could be because quantity of reactants was increased or temp change.

hope tht helps :)  

Answer 3

When a system is at equilibrium, the forward and reverse reaction rates are the same, so the concentrations of the reactants and products does not change. If the system is disturbed by adding reactant, removing product, changing the temperature, etc., then Le Chatelier's principle states that the system responds to minimize (but not completely eliminate) the effect of the disturbance.

Condider this reaction:

CO(g)  +  3H2(g)  <==>  CH4(g)  +  H2O(g)

At equilibrium, the system has fixed amounts of reactants and products depending on the Kc value.

If you added more reactant, CH4 or H2, the system would respond by attempting to react the excess amount that you added. It does so by shifting to the right to make product, which uses up some of the extra reactants that you added.

The above reaction is exothermic (delta H = -206 kJ/mole). If you were to increase the temperature, the system (which is already giving off heat) senses a temperature overload and the reaction goes to the left (reactants) to use up the excess heat.

If I were to remove a product as it is formed, the system senses the loss of product and goes to the right in an attempt to replace what was taken out.

If I were to increase the pressure, the system would respond by going to the side which has the FEWER gas moles to alleviate the pressure buildup. In the example above, that would be to the right.

I hope that this example helps.

Answer 4

It means that conditions (or concentrations) have been perturbed so that the system is actually no longer at equilibrium.  A new equilibrium is then established (different from the old) that reflects the new conditions.  

Answer 5

It simply means that more products are being formed. For example, when more reactants are being added to the system at equilibrium, the system shifts to counteract that change. This is done by shifting to favor the products where the excess reactants can be used up and more products will be formed.