The purpose of this experiment is to calculate an equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction by observing “Le Chatelier’s Principle” in a chemical reaction. Equilibrium is caused when a chemical reaction does not go to “completion,” but when both reactants and products exist. According to research students of the University of Oxford, “equilibrium does not imply that all chemical activity has stopped, only that forward and reverse reactions are proceeding at the same rate, so no further net change in the amounts of reactants and products occur.”(Virtual Chemistry, 14) If stress, such as temperature change and change in concentrations, is applied to a reaction at equilibrium state, the system will shift to minimize the stress (Campbell 231). …show more content…
The theory is called “Le Chatelier’s Principle” (Davis 237). In this experiment, iron (II) thiocyanate is the complex ion that is mixed with other solutions. However, depending on the solution that is mixed with the iron (II) thiocyanate, the color changes trying to reach its equilibrium point. Equilibrium will be observed in the reaction of the iron ion and the thiocyanate ion: (1) When color changes, it represents a “shift” in the chemical reaction. This also happens in gases and liquids, as stated in the text Chemistry: A Molecular Approach: “decreasing the volume causes the reaction to shift in the direction that has the fewer 3 moles of gas particles.” (Tro, 650) The color change of each solution notes any shift that has occurred in the reaction. By observing this reaction at it’s equilibrium state, FeSCN 2+ can have either a shift to the right or to the left. FeSCN 2+ has a blood red color, while the iron ion and thiocyanate are colorless. If FeSCN 2+ shifts to the right, the red will get darker and if it shits to the left, the red will get lighter. For this equilibrium reaction, its ratio of products reactants is a