Question

Ammonia can be produced via the chemical reaction n2(g)+3h2(g)?2nh3(g) during the production process, the production engineer determines the reaction quotient to be q = 3.56×10?4. if k = 6.02×10?2, what can be said about the reaction?

Answer 1

K represents the equilibrium constant while Q is the reaction quotient. The equilibrium constant is expressed as [NH3]^2/{[N2]*[H2]^3] based from the reaction where the terms are concentrations of the substances at equilibrium. The reaction quotient is expressed the same as the K, however, the terms are the concentrations of the substances at any point in time. From the given values of Q and K, we see that Q approaches to K in the reaction. So, Q is less than K which means that the product concentration is low as compared to that of the reactants. Also, it would mean that the reaction is still not in equilibrium and would proceed to the right.