Chemical Equilibrium

Chemical equilibrium is the state in which the forward reaction rate and the reverse reaction rate are equal.

The thermodynamic equilibrium constant is defined as: $K_{eq}=\frac{[C]^{m}[D]^{n}}{[A]^{a}[B]^{b}}$ .

Heterogeneous equilibria involve reactions with compounds in different phases; multiple equilibria involve reactions with two or more steps.

Common reactions, such as the self-ionization of water, have specially named equilibrium constants.

The reaction quotient is a measure of the relative amounts of reactants and products during a chemical reaction at a given point in time.

For gas-phase reactions, the equilibrium constant can be expressed in terms of partial pressures, and is given the designation K_P.

Equilibrium constants can be used to calculate the concentrations of reactants and products that will be present at equilibrium.

Le Chatelier's principle states that changes to an equilibrium system will result in a predictable shift that will counteract the change.

Catalysts speed up the rate of a reaction, but do not have an affect on the equilibrium position.