Le Chatelier's Principle

These flashcards cover stressed on a reaction, how to relieve the stress, and which way the shifts.

What do you do to relieve the stress of adding more reactants to a reaction?

According to Le Chatelier's Principle, to relieve the stress of adding more reactants, the system will shift in the direction that consumes the excess reactants, usually toward the products, to reestablish equilibrium.

What does adding a catalyst to a reaction do to the system?

It speeds up the reaction without shifting the equilibrium position.

If pressure increases, what does the system do to relieve this stress?

According to Le Chatelier's Principle, if pressure increases, the system will shift in the direction that produces fewer moles of gas to reduce the pressure.

What is Le Chatelier’s principle?

It states that if a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by changing the conditions, the position of equilibrium shifts to counteract that change.

What happens when a reactant is used up in a chemical equilibrium?

The system shifts to the left to produce more of the consumed reactant.