EXPERIMENT4

THEEQUILIBRIUMGAME
PURPOSE:
Touseaphysicalmodelsystemtoillustratetheapproachtochemicalequilibrium.
Thisisamodelforunderstandinghowtheconcentrationofreactants(A)andproducts(B)
changewithtimeasequilibriumisachieved.
A
B
PRINCIPLES:
Twostudentsmakingsimultaneoustransfersofwaterfromonecylindertoanotherwill
accomplishthisstudyoftheapproachtoequilibrium.ThetransferofwaterfromcylinderAto
cylinderBisanalogoustotheforwardreactioninachemicalchange,whichresultsinadecrease
intheamountofreactantsastheyformproducts.
Likewise,thetransferofwaterfromcylinderBtocylinderAisanalogoustothereverse
reaction,whichresultsinadecreaseintheamountofproducts,astheyformreactants.
Thenumberoftransfersthatoccurisanalogoustothetimecourseforthereaction.
Boththeforwardreactionandthereversereactionareoccurringatthesametimethroughoutthe
attainmentofequilibrium.Thedegreeofchangeinthevolumeinthecylindersisanalogousto
therateofchangeintheconcentrationsofreactantsandproductsasequilibriumisapproached.
Theserates,ordegreesofchange,becomeconstantandequaltoeachotherwhenequilibriumis
reached.
Thereisasignificantdifference,however,betweenthisphysicalmodelandachemicalreaction
approachingequilibrium.Amongotherdifferences,inchemicalsystemstheforwardreactionand
thereversereactionareoccurringinasinglecontainer ratherthantwo.
PROCEDURE:
1.
Workinginpairs,labela25mLgraduatedcylinderAandfillittothe25.0mLmark
withwater.
Labelasecond25mLgraduatedcylinderBrinseitoutandshakeasmuchwaterout
aspossible.Leaveitempty.
2.
Rinsetwoglasstubesof differentdiameters withwateranddrainasmuchaspossible.
UsethelargerdiametertubewithcylinderA.
3.
Simultaneously(atexactlythesametimeas)withyourpartner,loweraglasstubeinto
eachofthetwocylinders,withoutblockingtheopenendsofthetubes.
Afterthe tubereachesthebottom ofthecylinder,placeyourindexfingeroverthetop
endoftheglasstubeandholddowntightly.
Carefullytransferthecontentsofthetubingtotheothergraduatedcylinderandallowto
drain.
Readthevolumesinthecylinders(nearest0.1mL)onlyafterbothtransfertubeshave
drainedcompletely.
4.
Recordthevolumeinbothcylindersafterthetransfer.Useatableinyournotebookwith
thefollowingheadings:
NumberofTransfers

VolumeinA(mL)

VolumeinB(mL)

Expectabout2030rowsofentries.
5.

Repeatsteps#3and#4fivemoretimesafterequilibriumhasbeenreached.
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EXPERIMENT4
THEEQUILIBRIUMGAME
NOTES:

Consultwithyourinstructorifyouarenotsurewhenequilibriumhasbeen
reached.
Alwaysreturnthesameglasstubingtothesamecylinder !
Recordthetotalvolumeineachcylinder (AandB)aftereverytransfer!

ANALYSIS:
1.
Constructagraphbyrecordingthedataforbothcylindersonthesamegraph.
PlottheVolumeofWaterontheYaxisversustheNumberof Transfersonthe
Xaxis.Labeleachaxisandjoineachsetofpointswithasmoothcurve.
LabelthetwosmoothcurvesAandBrespectively.
2.

Thechangeinthevolume(DV)ineachofthecylindersisanalogoustothechangein
concentration(DC)ofthereactantsandproductsduringachemicalreaction.
Thechangeinthenumberoftransfers(D#transfers)isanalogoustothechangeinthe
time(Dt)duringachemicalreaction.
Itfollows:
DV

DC
=

D#transfers

Dt

Note thattheratio DV/ D#transfersistheslopeoftheplotofanygiventransfer.

Notealsothatthisslopeisdecreasingasthenumberoftransfersincreases.
Afteralargenumberoftransfershaveoccurred,theslopeisverysmall,orzero(the
smoothcurveisalmostflat).Thissituationisanalogoustotheapproachtoequilibrium
wheretherateofchangeoftheconcentrationsofthereactantsandproductsisverylarge
atthebeginning,butbecomeslessandlessasthereactionproceeds.
Afterlongtimes,therateofchangeoftheconcentrationofbothreactantsandproducts
becomeszeroatthispointthereactionhasreachedchemicalequilibrium.

EXPERIMENT4
THEEQUILIBRIUMGAME
NAME:__________________________
PARTNER:_______________________
REPORTFORM
Enteryourreadingsintothetablebelowandconstructagraph.
Entervolumestothenearest0.1mL
Numberoftransfers VolumeinA(mL)
VolumeinB(mL
0
25.0
0.0
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EXPERIMENT4
THEEQUILIBRIUMGAME
1.

(a)

Fromyourgraph,howmanytransfersarerequiredbeforethevolumesinthe
cylindersareequaltoeachother?_________

(b)

Atthispoint,isthephysicalsystematequilibrium?___________

(c)

WhyorWhynot?

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2

(a)

Fromyourgraph,determinetheapproximatenumberoftransfersneededtoreach
equilibrium:________Indicatethisclearlyonyourgraph.

(b)

ForbothAandB,whatisthedegreetowhichthevolumechangeswithadditional
transferspastthispoint?

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3.

(a)

Ifthetubingwiththenarrowerinsidediameterwasusedtoremovevolumefrom
cylinderA,whichcylinder,AorB,willhavethelargervolumeatequilibrium?
_____
Why?

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4.

(a)

Ifthesituationabovein3(a)representedreactantsAandproductsB,isthe
equilibriumconstant,Keq,greaterorlessthan1?____________________
Explainyouranswer

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