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A and B can react to form C and D or, in the reverse reaction, C and D can react to form A and B. This is distinct from a reversible process in thermodynamics. Weak acids and bases undergo reversible reactions. For example, carbonic acid: H 2 CO 3 (l) + H 2 O (l) ⇌ HCO 3 − (aq) + H 3 O + (aq).
The concept of chemical equilibrium was developed in 1803, after Berthollet found that some chemical reactions are reversible. [4] For any reaction mixture to exist at equilibrium, the rates of the forward and backward (reverse) reactions must be equal.
The reaction C (s) diamond → C (s) graphite has a negative change in Gibbs free energy and is therefore thermodynamically favorable at 25 °C and 1 atm. However, the reaction is too slow to be observed, because of its very high activation energy. Whether a reaction is thermodynamically favorable does not determine its rate.
[a] While processes in isolated systems are never reversible, [3] cyclical processes can be reversible or irreversible. [4] Reversible processes are hypothetical or idealized but central to the second law of thermodynamics. [3] Melting or freezing of ice in water is an example of a realistic process that is nearly reversible.
For a system undergoing a reversible reaction described by the general chemical equation + + + + a thermodynamic equilibrium constant, denoted by , is defined to be the value of the reaction quotient Q t when forward and reverse reactions occur at the same rate.
Generic hydrolysis reaction. (The 2-way yield symbol indicates a chemical equilibrium in which hydrolysis and condensation are reversible.). Hydrolysis (/ h aɪ ˈ d r ɒ l ɪ s ɪ s /; from Ancient Greek hydro- 'water' and lysis 'to unbind') is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds.
The concept of free energy was developed by Hermann von Helmholtz, a German physicist, and first presented in 1882 in a lecture called "On the thermodynamics of chemical processes". [1] From the German word Arbeit (work), the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recommends the symbol A and the name Helmholtz energy. [2]
where k f is the rate constant for the forward reaction and k b is the rate constant for the backward reaction and the square brackets, […], denote concentration. If only A is present at the beginning, time t = 0 , with a concentration [A] 0 , the sum of the two concentrations, [A] t and [B] t , at time t , will be equal to [A] 0 .