Chemical Equilibrium......ATTAINMENT OF EQUILIBRIUM IN CHEMICAL REACTIONS

ATTAINMENT OF EQUILIBRIUM IN CHEMICAL REACTIONS A chemical reaction in equilibrium involves the opposing reactions. One of the reactions produces the products and is known as the forward reaction while the other produces the reactants from products and is known as the reverse reaction. Chemical equilibrium is dynamic in nature. At equilibrium, reactant and product molecules are both present in the reaction mixture in definite amounts. The equilibrium concentrations of the reactants and products do not change under constant temperature, pressure and catalysts etc. In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both reactants and products are present at concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time. Usually, this state results when the forward reaction proceeds at the same rate as the reverse reaction. The reaction rates of the forward and reverse reactions are generally not zero but, being equal, there are no net changes in the concentrations of the reactant and product. This process is called dynamic equilibrium. www.edufine.net