Course: Chemistry

Unit: Chemical Reactions, Rates & Equilibrium

Assignment: Equilibrium and Concentration

Lab Report Expectations and Instructions:

Lab report grades make up 40% of each unit grade. Completing and doing well on projects is very
important for your unit and overall grade.

For this project, you will be using Gizmos simulations through www.explorelearning.com. Follow these
steps to enroll in your Chemistry class.

1. Go to https://www.explorelearning.com
2. Click on the “Enroll in a Class” button in the upper right hand corner of the web page.
3. Type in the class code: LNCN8X
Click “Continue” and follow the directions on the site to complete your enrollment.
4. Write down your username/password somewhere where you will remember it.

Now that your account is setup, please login to your Gizmos account (Gizmos Login) and open the
“Equilibrium and Concentration” simulation.

This document will walk you through how to use the Gizmos simulation. Please answer all
questions in the Answer boxes. Leave the rest of the document intact. Your teacher will
include notes in the document and add points in the “Points Earned” column.

** Please read over the teacher comments after the report is submitted and graded. **
** You are allowed to redo a project after it is graded for a max score of an 80%. **

Student Name: Robert Florin POPA

Date: 01/04/2021
Name of Grader: Yolanda Anderson

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 Student Exploration: Equilibrium and Concentration

Vocabulary: chemical equilibrium, concentration, equilibrium, equilibrium constant, reaction

quotient, reversible reaction

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

Gary has $5,000 in his bank account and earns a modest salary. Every month he pays for rent,
food, utilities, and entertainment.

A. How will Gary’s account change if he saves more than he spends? __It will
increase._______________

B. How will Gary’s account change if he spends more than he saves? ___It will
decrease.______________

C. What happens if Gary spends exactly as much as he saves? _______It will stay the
same.______________

Gizmo Warm-up

If Gary spends exactly as much as he earns, his savings will

be in equilibrium. Equilibrium occurs when two opposing
processes occur at the same rate, leading to no net change.
In the Equilibrium and Concentration Gizmo, you will
investigate how equilibrium can occur in chemical reactions.

To begin, check that Reaction 1 is selected. Set Moles NO2

to 8 and Moles N2O4 to 0.

1. Click Play ( ) and observe the colliding molecules. What do you notice? ______________

__ The molecules move and collide. Occasionally, there is a blue or red flash. They form
N2O4 when they collide.

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 In the Gizmo, a blue flash appears every time two reactants combine to form a product. A
red flash appears every time a product dissociates into reactants.

2. Click Reset ( ), and set Moles NO2 to 0 and Moles N2O4 to 8. Click Play.

What do you notice now? ____ There are more red flashes than blue. They form NO2 when
they collide.

3. When a reaction can proceed in either direction, it is a reversible reaction. Based on what
you have observed, is the synthesis of NO2 into N2O4 a reversible reaction? Explain.

__ I know the synthesis of NO2 into N2O4 is a reversible reaction because both the forward
reaction (blue flashes) and the reverse reaction (red flashes) are observed.

Activity A:
Get the Gizmo ready:

 Click Reset. Reaction 1 should be selected.

Reversible  Set Moles NO2 to 8 and Moles N2O4 to 0.
reactions  Move the Sim. speed slider all the way to the right.

Question: What are the characteristics of reversible reactions?

1. Predict: Suppose you began with 8 moles of NO2 in the chamber. What do you think will

happen if you let the reaction go for a long time? ___All of the NO2 will form N2O4 and

there will be no more NO2 left. __

2. Test: Click Play. Select the BAR CHART tab and check that Moles is selected. Observe the
bar chart for about 30 seconds. As time goes by, what do you notice about the bars
representing moles NO2 and moles N2O4?
The one with NO2 is going down, and the one with N2O4 is going up at first, and then
they start fluctuating for some time, but generally, they stay the same.
__

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3. Observe: Click Pause ( ). Select the GRAPH tab. Click the (–) zoom control on the
horizontal axis until you can see the whole graph. What do you notice?

____ At first, the amounts of NO2 and N2O4 change rapidly. After a while the amounts do
not change as much.
_____________________________________________________________________

This situation, in which the overall amounts of reactants and products does not change
significantly over time, is called a chemical equilibrium.

4. Record: On the BAR CHART tab, turn on Show data values. How many moles of NO2 and

N2O4 are there right now? Moles NO2 ____4.0______ Moles N2O4 ______2.0____

5. Calculate: Suppose all the NO2 molecules were synthesized into N2O4. Given the equation

2NO2 ⇄ N2O4, how many moles of N2O4 would be produced?

The resulting amounts of NO2 and N2O4 in this experiment are very similar to the results

obtained when starting with 8 moles NO2 and 0 moles N2O4______________

6. Experiment: Click Reset. On the INITIAL SETTINGS tab, set Moles NO2 to 0 and Moles
N2O4 to 4. Click Play. Click Pause when the bars of the bar chart stop moving very much.

A. List the current amounts of each substance: Moles NO2 ___4___ Moles N2O4
___2___

B. How do these results compare to starting with 8 moles of NO2? This time the one
that started out with “0’ got higher than the one that started out with a larger number.

___________________________________________________________________

7. Summarize: In each trial, you started with the same amounts of nitrogen and oxygen. In this
situation, did the equilibrium amounts change depending on the direction of the reaction?

The equilibrium amounts were about the same in both situations.

8. Set up the Gizmo: Click Reset and select the EXPERIMENT tab on the left. On the INITIAL
SETTINGS tab on the right, select Reaction 2. Set Moles NO to 5, Moles NO2 to 5, and
Moles N2O3 to 0. What are the reactants and product of this reaction?

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 Reactants: ___NO___NO2____ __________ Product: ___N2O4_______

(Note: In this reaction, some of the NO2 reactants combine to form N2O4, as in reaction 1.)

9. Observe: Recall that a blue flash appears every time two reactants combine to form a
product. A red flash appears every time a product dissociates into reactants. Click Play.

A. At first, do you notice more blue flashes or red flashes? Blue flashes.

B. What do you notice about the frequency of blue and red flashes as time goes by?
After a while, the frequency of blue and red flashes is about the same

C. Click Reset. This time, start the experiment with 0 moles of NO and NO2 and 5
moles of N2O3. Click Play. What do you notice about the red and blue flashes now?

At first, there are more red flashes than blue flashes. Later, the frequencies are
even.

10. Explain: Think about how the numbers of blue and red flashes reflect the rates of the
forward (reactants  products) and reverse (products  reactants) reactions.

A. What happens to the rate of the forward reaction as the reactants are consumed?
The rate of the forward reaction decreases as reactants are consumed.

B. What happens to the rate of the reverse reaction as the products are produced?

The rate of the reverse reaction increases as products are produced.

C. Why do reversible reactions always result in chemical equilibria?

Chemical equilibrium occurs when the rates of the forward and reverse reactions are
equal. If there is an excess of reactants, the forward reaction will occur more quickly
than the reverse reaction until there is no longer an excess of reactants. At this point,
the rates of the forward and reverse reactions are equal and equilibrium is reached.
The same thing occurs when there is an excess of products.
_________________________________________________________________

Activity B:
Get the Gizmo ready:

The equilibrium  Click Reset. Select Reaction 1.

constant  Set Moles NO2 to 2 and Moles N2O4 to 7.

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Introduction: When investigating the rates of reactions, it often is useful to consider the
concentrations of reactants rather than the total number of moles. Concentrations are often
expressed in moles per liter, or mol/L. Brackets are used to signify concentration. For example,
“[H2] = 5.0 M” means the concentration of hydrogen gas in a chamber is 5.0 moles per liter.

Question: What are the characteristics of reactions in equilibrium?

1. Record: On the BAR CHART tab, select Concentration. Check that Show data values is
on. If necessary, use the arrows to adjust the scale of the chart.

A. What are the current concentrations of each compound?

[NO2] _____4.00M_____ [N2O4] _____14.00M_____

B. Click Play and wait for equilibrium to become established. Click Pause. What are the
approximate equilibrium concentrations?

[NO2] ______ 12M____ [N2O4] ___6M_______

2. Calculate: The value Kc represents the ratio of products to reactants in a reaction at

equilibrium. The greater the amount of products relative to reactants, the higher the resulting
value of Kc. For a general reaction between gases: aA(g) + bB(g) ⇌ cC(g) + dD(g), Kc is
calculated as follows:
c d
[C ] [ D ]
Kc= a b [C] c [D]d
[ A] [B] K c =
[A]a [B]b
For the current reaction, 2NO2 ⇌ N2O4, we have:

[ N2O4]
Kc=
[NO 2 ]2
Based on the current concentrations of NO2 and N2O4, what is Kc? _aprox 0.042

Show your work here: N O ] 6.0 0.042 [NO ] 12.0 K

3. Gather data: Experiment with a variety of initial concentrations of NO2 and N2O4. For each
set of initial concentrations, use the Gizmo to determine the equilibrium concentrations of
each substance. In the last column, find Kc for that trial. Run three trials for each set of initial
conditions.

Initial Initial Equilibrium Equilibrium Kc

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 [NO2] [N2O4] [NO2] [N2O4]

9.0 M 9.0 M 12.81 M 5.19 M 0.031

6.0 M 12.0 M 12.88 M 5.12 M 0.030
12.0 M 6.0 M 12.65 M 5.35 M 0.033

9.0 M 9.0 M 11.90 M 6.10 M 0.043

6.0 M 12.0 M 13.12 M 4.88 M 0.028
12.0 M 6.0 M 13.61 M 4.39 M 0.023

9.0 M 9.0 M 13.09 M 4.91 M 0.028

6.0 M 12.0 M 11.64 M 6.36 M 0.046
12.0 M 6.0 M 11.52 M 6.48 M 0.048

4. Calculate: Find the average value of Kc for each set of three trials.

Trials 1-3: ___0.4_______ Trials 4-6: _____0.5_____ Trials 7-9:

0.4__________

5. Analyze: What do you notice about the values of Kc? ___They are almost the same.

In general, the value of Kc will be constant for a given reaction at a constant temperature, no
matter the starting concentrations. That is why Kc is known as the equilibrium constant. In
this Gizmo, the values of Kc will vary somewhat because there is a very limited number of
molecules in the chamber.

6. On your own: Use the Gizmo to find Kc for Reaction 4: H2 + I2 ⇌ 2HI. Collect data at least 10
times and average your results to get the best approximation of Kc. Show your data and
work below.

(Hint: Because of the coefficient “2” in front of HI, you will have to square the concentration
of HI to find Kc.)

Kc = ____12.80______
7.

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 Activity C: Get the Gizmo ready:

 Click Reset. Check that Reaction 4 is selected.

Reaction direction  Set Moles H2 to 5, Moles I2 to 5, and Moles HI
to 3.

Introduction: For a reversible reaction with equilibrium constant Kc, it often is useful to know in
which direction the reaction will proceed given the starting amounts of reactants A and B and
products C and D. This is done by calculating the reaction quotient, Qc:

c d
[C ] [ D ]
Qc =
[ A ]a [ B ]b

Question: How can you predict the direction of a reversible reaction?

1. List: Select the BAR CHART tab. What are the initial concentrations of each substance?

[H2] ____9.23___ [I2] ___9.23____ [HI] _5.54______

2. Calculate: Use the equation above to find Qc for the current reaction.

A. What is the current value of Qc? ____0.36______

B. In activity B, what value of Kc did you arrive at for this reaction? ____12.80______

C. How does Qc compare to Kc? It is much lower.

3. Analyze: Recall that Qc is equal to the ratio of product concentrations to reactant

concentrations.

A. If there is an excess of products, will Qc be greater than or less than Kc?

__less________

B. If there is an excess of reactants, will Qc be greater than or less than Kc?

_____greater____

C. In the current situation, is there an excess of products or reactants?

______products_______

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 Explain: Qc is much less than Kc.

D. When the reaction begins, do you expect [HI] to increase or decrease?

____increase_______

Explain: The bar that is the lowest usually increases the most.

4. Test: Click Play. What happens to [HI]? HI went up and the H & I bars went down.
_____________________________________

Extension:
Get the Gizmo ready:

Equilibrium  Click Reset. Select Reaction 1.

calculations  Set Moles NO2 to 0 and Moles N2O4 to 6.

Goal: Given Kc and initial concentrations, calculate equilibrium concentrations.

1. List: Select the BAR CHART. What is the initial concentration N2O4? [N2O4]initial =
____18___

2. Experiment: Click Play and wait for a few seconds. Click Pause before equilibrium is
reached.

A. What is the current concentration of N2O4? [N2O4] = ____16.16___

B. How much has the concentration of N2O4 gone down? ____1.84___

C. What is the current concentration of NO2? [NO2] = ____1.84___

D. In general, if [N2O4] is reduced by x, how much does [NO2] increase?

______x______

This result may be surprising. It is true because at constant pressure, the overall
density of particles in the container remains constant. So, if the concentration of one
substance is reduced by x, the concentration of the other substance increases by x.

c d
[C ] [ D ]
Kc= a b
3. Manipulate: Begin with the general equation for Kc: [ A] [B] .

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 A. What is the equation for Kc for the reaction 2NO2 ⇌ N2O4?
Kc = N2O4, NO2^2

B. In this experiment, the initial concentration of NO2 is zero. If the concentration of

N2O4 is reduced by x at equilibrium, the equilibrium concentration of NO2 is equal to
x. Substitute the following values into the equation you wrote in step A:

[N2O4] = ([N2O4]initial – x) [NO2] = x

Kc = [N2O4] = (18 -1.84)

C. In activity A, you discovered that Kc for this reaction was close to 0.042. Substitute
this value and the initial concentration of N2O4 into your equation.

0.042 = 18 -x
X^2

D. Rearrange the terms of your equation to form a quadratic equation in the form
ax2 + bx + c = 0.

0.042x^2 + x – 18 = 0

4. Solve: Because the equation is in the form ax2 + bx + c = 0, you can use the quadratic
formula (shown below) to solve for x. Ignore negative solutions because the concentrations
cannot be negative. Show your work.

−b± √ b 2−4 ac
x=
2a

11.98

5. Predict: Based on the value for x, what do you expect the equilibrium concentrations of NO2
and N2O4 to be?

[NO2] ______11.98____ [N2O4] _____6.02_____

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 [ N2O4]
Kc=
Check your work by solving for Kc using [NO 2 ]2 Kc = _______0.042___

If you don’t get the correct value of Kc, recheck your work.

6. Test: Click Play and wait for equilibrium to be established. What are the actual equilibrium
values of each substance?

[NO2] ______12.18____ [N2O4] _____5.82_____

How close were these results to your predicted results? Close enough (0.2 off).

7. Challenge: Suppose you begin with 6 moles of NO2 and 5 moles of N2O4. Assuming a value
for Kc of 0.042, predict the equilibrium concentrations of NO2 and N2O4. (Use the Gizmo to
determine the initial concentrations.) Show your work on a separate sheet of paper. After
you have made your predictions, click Play and record the experimental results.

Predicted: [NO2] ___11.98____ [N2O4] ___6.02____

Experimental: [NO2] ___11.46____ [N2O4] _6.54______

Points Earned:

Points Possible:

Total Score:

Areas of Strength:

Areas for Growth:

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