Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
Carbon monoxide reacts with steam in a closed vessel: . At the temperature of the experiment, . A vessel is filled with of CO and of steam, and no products, and left to reach equilibrium at that temperature.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Plan. Set up the amounts with one unknown, solve the quadratic, then use the same idea after the steam is added.
(a) The quadratic. At equilibrium: CO , steam , and , all in . Each concentration is the amount divided by , and the volumes cancel because :
This gives . The root that is smaller than is of hydrogen.
(b) Percentage. of the CO has reacted.
(c) Concentration. .
(d) . , so , with no unit.
(e) More steam. Just after the steam goes in, , less than , so more CO reacts. The final mixture is the one you would get from of CO and of steam:
So more hydrogen forms, as Le Chatelier's principle predicts.
Check. Starting from the old equilibrium and searching for the extra amount that makes gives the same . Putting back into the expression in (a) gives .
Watch out. Of the two roots of the quadratic, only the one smaller than the starting amount of CO makes sense: no amount can become negative.
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