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Chapter 15: Problem 67

Ozone, \(\mathrm{O}_{3},\) decomposes to molecular oxygen in the stratosphere according to the reaction $2 \mathrm{O}_{3}(g) \longrightarrow 3 \mathrm{O}_{2}(g)$. Would an increase in pressure favor the formation of ozone or of oxygen?

Short Answer

Expert verified
An increase in pressure would favor the formation of ozone, \(O_3\), as the system will shift the equilibrium towards the side with fewer moles of gas (reactants). This is in accordance with Le Châtelier's principle, which states that the system will adjust itself to minimize the effect of any applied stress, such as an increase in pressure.

Step by step solution

01

Write down the given reaction

The given reaction for the decomposition of ozone is: \[2 O_3(g) \rightleftharpoons 3 O_2(g)\]
02

Analyze the reaction in terms of number of moles of gas

By looking at the given reaction, we can see that 2 moles of O_3 gas form 3 moles of O_2 gas. This means that the total number of moles of gas on both sides of the reaction are different.
03

Apply Le Châtelier's principle

According to Le Châtelier's principle, if a system at equilibrium is subjected to a stress, the system will adjust to minimize the effect of the stress. In this case, the stress applied is an increase in pressure. Since the number of moles of gas is different on both sides, the system will shift the equilibrium to the side with fewer moles of gas to minimize the increase in pressure.
04

Determine which side the system will shift to

As there are 2 moles of gas on the reactant side (O_3) and 3 moles of gas on the product side (O_2), the system will shift the equilibrium towards the side with fewer moles under increased pressure. In this case, the equilibrium will shift to the left, favoring the formation of ozone (O_3).
05

Conclusion

An increase in pressure would favor the formation of ozone (O_3) since the system will adjust itself by shifting the equilibrium towards the side with fewer moles of gas, in this case, the reactants (ozone).

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The equilibrium $2 \mathrm{NO}(g)+\mathrm{Cl}_{2}(g) \rightleftharpoons 2 \mathrm{NOCl}(g)\( is established at \)550 \mathrm{~K}$. An equilibrium mixture of the three gases has partial pressures of $10.13 \mathrm{kPa}, 20.27 \mathrm{kPa}\(, and \)35.46 \mathrm{kPa}\( for \)\mathrm{NO}, \mathrm{Cl}_{2},$ and \(\mathrm{NOCl}\), respectively.(a) Calculate \(K_{p}\) for this reaction at \(500.0 \mathrm{~K}\). (b) If the vessel has a volume of \(5.00 \mathrm{~L},\) calculate \(K_{c}\) at this temperature.

When \(1.50 \mathrm{~mol} \mathrm{CO}_{2}\) and $1.50 \mathrm{~mol} \mathrm{H}_{2}\( are placed in a 3.00-L container at \)395^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$, the following reaction occurs: $\mathrm{CO}_{2}(g)+\mathrm{H}_{2}(g) \rightleftharpoons \mathrm{CO}(g)+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}(g)$. If \(K_{c}=0.802\), what are the concentrations of each substance in the equilibrium mixture?

Phosphorus trichloride gas and chlorine gas react to form phosphorus pentachloride gas: \(\mathrm{PCl}_{3}(g)+\mathrm{Cl}_{2}(g) \rightleftharpoons\) \(\mathrm{PCl}_{5}(g) .\) A 7.5-L gas vessel is charged with a mixture of \(\mathrm{PCl}_{3}(g)\) and \(\mathrm{Cl}_{2}(g)\), which is allowed to equilibrate at 450 \(\mathrm{K} .\) At equilibrium the partial pressures of the three gases are $P_{\mathrm{PCl}_{3}}=12.56 \mathrm{kPa}, P_{\mathrm{Cl}_{2}}=15.91 \mathrm{kPa},\( and \)P_{\mathrm{PCl}_{5}}=131.7 \mathrm{kPa}$ (a) What is the value of \(K_{p}\) at this temperature? (b) Does the equilibrium favor reactants or products? (c) Calculate \(K_{c}\) for this reaction at \(450 \mathrm{~K}\).

(a) If \(Q_{c}>K_{c}\), how must the reaction proceed to reach equilibrium? (b) At the start of a certain reaction, only reactants are present; no products have been formed. What is the value of \(Q_{c}\) at this point in the reaction?

Assume that the equilibrium constant for the dissociation of molecular bromine, \(\mathrm{Br}_{2}(g) \rightleftharpoons 2 \mathrm{Br}(g)\), at 800 \(\mathrm{K}\) is \(K_{c}=5.4 \times 10^{-3}\). (a) Which species predominates at equilibrium, \(\mathrm{Br}_{2}\) or Br, assuming that the concentration of \(\mathrm{Br}_{2}\) is larger than $5.4 \times 10^{-3} \mathrm{~mol} / \mathrm{L} ?$ (b) Assuming both forward and reverse reactions are elementary processes, which reaction has the larger numeric value of the rate constant, the forward or the reverse reaction?
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