Chemical Equilibrium

INTRODUCTION
When chemicals react, the reaction
does not always go to completion. Instead, the
system goes to a state in which the forward
and reverse reactions proceed at equal
rates[1]. In this state, the amounts of the
reactants and products remain constant with
time[1]. This state is chemical equilibrium
equilibrium.
A system in chemical
equilibrium abides by the law of chemical
equilibrium, which states that a condition on
the concentrations of reactants and products
is expressed in the equilibrium constant Kc
for the reaction. In this experiment, the
equilibrium properties of iron(III) and
thiocyanate ion will be studied.
Fe3+(aq) + SCN(aq)
(1)

FeSCN2+(aq)

The reaction between Fe3+ and SCN does not

go to completion. Instead, equilibrium is
established where both the reactants and
products have concentrations that do not
change with time. As a result of the reaction,
the amounts of Fe3+ and SCN at equilibrium
will be less than their initial amounts. From
the balanced net ionic equation, we can see

that for every mole of FeSCN2+ formed, one

mole of Fe3+ and one mole of SCN will be
consumed. Also from the balanced net ionic
equation, the equilibrium constant may be
expressed as shown below:
[
[

]
][

The value of Kc is constant at a given

temperature[1].
Therefore,
solutions

containing Fe3+ and SCN will arrive at

equilibrium with the same Kc no matter what
initial concentrations of Fe3+ and SCN were
used. In order to find the value of Kc, a UV-Vis
spectrophotometer will be used to measure
the amount of light absorbed by the solution.
Using Beer-Lamberts law, we can find the
equilibrium concentration of the system.
Beer-Lamberts law states that the
relationship between the path length b (in
cm), concentration (in M), absorbance of the
substance, and the molar absorptivity
coefficient

(in

) is given by the

equation below.
A=bC

(3)

The purpose of the experiment is to

calculatee the Kc for the formation of FeSCN2+
by using spectrophotometry and BeerLamberts law.

METHODOLOGY
For the Iron (II) Silver Ions System,
1mL of both 0.10 M FeSO4 and 0.10 M AgNO3
in a 4 inch test tube was mixed. The mixture
was then centrifuged and its supernate was
decanted into a test tube. The supernate was
then transferred to three different test tubes
in order to test for the presence of Fe2+, Ag+
and Fe3+. 0.10 M K3Fe(CN)6, 0.10 M KSCN and
1.00 M HCl was used as test reagents for the
presence of Fe2+, Ag+ and Fe3+ respectively. In
the Copper (II) Ammonia System, 1.00 M
NH3 was added dropwise to 1 mL of CuSO4
and shaked after each drop. The number of
drops needed to form the precipitate was

recorded. 1.00 M NH3 was added dropwise

again and shaked after each drop in order to
dissolve the precipitate. The number of drops
needed to dissolve the precipitate was
recorded.
In the Chromate-Dichromate
system, 5 drops of 0.10 M K2CrO4 was placed
in test tubes 1 and 2. 5 drops of 0.10 M
K2Cr2O7 was placed in test tubes 3 and 4. 2
drops of 2.0 M H2SO4 was then added to test
tubes 1 and 3. Then 2 drops of 2.0 M NaOH
was added to test tubes 2 and 4. The colors of
test tubes 1 and 3 was then compared to
those of test tubes 2 and 4. In preparing the
stock solution, 1mL of 0.1 M FeCl3, 1mL of 0.1
M KSCN and 50 mL distilled water was mixed
in a 100-mL beaker for the Iron (III) ChlorideThiocyanate system. Four test tubes was
labelled test tube 1.2.3 and 4. 2 mL of stock
solution was placed into each of the four test
tubes. Test tube 1 served as the control. 10
drops of 0.1 M FeCl3 was added to test tube 2.
Then 10 drops of 0.1 M KSCN was added to
test tube 3. 3 drops of 2.0 M NaOH was added
to test tube 4. The colors of the solutions
were then recorded. For the Cobalt (II) ions
system, a hot bath was prepared. Two test
tubes was labelled as test tube 1 and 2 then
test tube 1 was treated as the control. 1 mL of
CoCl3 was added to each of the test tubes.
Concentrated HCl was added dropwise to test
tube 2 until color change occurs. Test tube 2
was then immersed in the hot water bath.
Test tube 2 was then placed in a water bath at
ambient temperature for it to cool. Then, test
tube 2 was placed in an ice bath. The color
changes in the whole system were recorded.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS