For each of the following, write the chemical equation with appropriate equilibrium arrows, as shown in Table 5.
Table 5:
No reaction: <1% ↔
Reactants favoured: <50%↔
Products favoured: >50%↔
Quantitative:>99%↔ or ➡️
a) The Haber process is used to manufacture ammonia fertilizer from hydrogen and nitrogen gases. Under less than desirable conditions, only 1% yield of ammonia is obtained at equilibrium.
Okay so, this is the equation I made:
3H2+N2↔️2NH3
When it says "less desirable conditions", does that mean that the equation I made should be in reverse like: 2NH3↔️3H2+N2 ? Since it's less than desirable, does that mean that it would be <50%↔️? But for the reactants or the products? My workbook says "the larger the K the more products are present at equilibrium, conversely, the smaller K the more reactants are present at equilibrium"... But I don't have any amounts to put into an ICE table. I'm honestly not even sure what it's asking. I'd really appreciate the help!
To determine the appropriate chemical equation with the equilibrium arrows, you need to consider the information provided in Table 5.
In the given scenario, it states that under less than desirable conditions, only 1% yield of ammonia is obtained at equilibrium. This suggests that the reaction is not proceeding very effectively and is favoring the reactants over the products.
The equation you provided, 3H2 + N2 ↔ 2NH3, is correct for the Haber process. However, since the conditions are less than desirable and the reaction is yielding only 1% of ammonia, it implies that the equilibrium is shifted towards the reactants (H2 and N2) rather than the products (NH3).
Therefore, the proper chemical equation with equilibrium arrows for this scenario would be:
2NH3 ↔ 3H2 + N2
Since the equilibrium is favoring the reactants and the yield is only 1%, it falls into the category of reactants favored, which is represented by <50% ↔ in Table 5.
Regarding the explanation you mentioned from your workbook, it is correct. A larger value of the equilibrium constant (K) indicates that the reaction favors the formation of products at equilibrium, while a smaller K value indicates that the reaction favors the reactants. However, in this case, you don't have specific values to calculate the equilibrium constant.
Overall, the key information to consider in this question is the less than desirable conditions and the low yield of ammonia, indicating that the equilibrium is shifted towards the reactants (H2 and N2).