Lab 2: Le Chatelier's Principle

Purpose / Introduction
The intention of this lab is to determine the effect(s) a change has on a system of
equilibrium. The changes will then be related to Le Chatlier's Principle: a system under stress
will correct itself to relieve the system and bring it back to equilibrium. From the gathered
change observations, the equilibrium concept will be defined in relation to Le Chatlier's
Principle.
For this lab, it is safe to assume that there will be equilibrium shifting between the
reactants and products when certain solutions are added to the systems. Depending on the
direction of the shift, the reaction can be determined to be either endothermic or exothermic. In
Part I, I expect adding HCl will cause in a shift to the right because acids remove hydroxides.
As for adding
Na 2 SO 4

Na2 EDTA

, I am unsure of the possible reactions. For Part II, mixing solid

crystals into the solution should result in an equilibrium shift to the left because

2
more S O4 is being added to the already existing amount in the mixture. And, finally when
NaHSO4

is added, I believe the shift will be to the right instead because

HS O 4

does not

preexist in the mixture.

Prelab Questions
N/A
Procedure
Refer to CHE 112-BK01 lab manual
Lab 2: Le Chatelier's Principle (page 27)
Data / Results
Part I

Change to the Mixture

2.0 M MgCl 2 to wells 1 & 2

Add 5 drops
Add 10 drops

2.0 M MgCl 2 to wells 3 & 4

Add 1 drop phenolphthalein to all wells

1.0 M NaOH

Add 5 drops
Add 1 drop

6.0 M HCl

Continue to add

to all wells

to well 1

HCl

until color

Observed changes

Colorless and precipitate-less

Colorless and precipitate-less

Mixtures become milky white

Mixtures change color to magenta/hot pink and the
precipitate thickens
Mixture returned to previous milky white color and the
precipitate thins out
Remains white after one drop of

HCl

change
Add 1 drop

0.15 M Na 2 EDTA

to well 2

Mixture briefly returns to milky white before quickly

going back to magenta/hot pink color

Continue to add

NA 2 EDTA

until

color change
Place well 3 in hot water bath ( 36 )
Place well 4 in cold water bath

4
)

6 drops for the mixture to stay milky white for a

longer period of time before changing back to
magenta/hot pink
11 drops maintains the milky white color but
solid precipitate remains pink
Mixture becomes less viscous and turns a lighter shade
of pink
Mixture becomes more viscous and no color change is
observed

Postlab Questions
A. The equilibrium will shift to the right when

HCl is added to solid

Mg ( OH )2 .

The shift is due to the HCl taking up the hydroxides.

Na 2 EDTA
B. The addition of
will cause the equilibrium to shift to the right as well
because the concentration of

2+
Mg

will decrease.

C. This is an endothermic reaction. The reaction requires energy to break the ions apart
from the crystal lattice structure.
Part II

Change to the Mixture

0.1 M NaHSO4

Add 5 drops
&3

to wells 1, 2,

0.1 M NaHSO4

Add 10 drops

to wells 4 &

5
Add 1 drop thymol blue indicator to all
wells

1.0 M Na2 SO 4

Add 1 drops

to well 1

Na 2 SO 4

Continue to add
color change

until

Na 2 SO 4

Add few solid crystals of

3

NA 2 SO 4

Continue to add

to well
crystals

Observed changes

Colorless and precipitate-less

Colorless and precipitate-less

Light baby pink color and no precipitate formed

Lighter "blushy salmon" pink color, no precipitate
formed
3 drops causes the color to become a faint "skin
tone" orange
Mixture turns lavender purple and remains precipitateless
Color remains a lavender purple and does not
create a precipitate

until color change

Place well 4 in hot water bath ( 34 )

30
Place well 5 in cold water bath

3
)

Mixture turns "candy apple" red

The "candy apple" red color faded to a lighter
shade of red
Mixture turns magenta pink
Magenta pink color changed to a bright hot pink
shade

Postlab Questions
A. The equilibrium will shift to the left when
Na 2 SO 4

Na 2 SO 4

is added to the reactants.

is a salt, and when it dissociates, the reaction needs to shift the equilibrium to

the left to "abosrb" the extra salts.

B. When

NaHSO 4

Although

NaHSO 4

is added to the reactants the equilibrium will shift to the right.

+
Na 2 SO 4
NaHSO4
is a salt like
,
dissociates into Na and

HSO4 , and the shift to the right will "absorb" the extra

HSO4 .

C. This is an exothermic reaction because acid added to water has a strong reaction.
Conclusion
The results from this lab displayed results that agreed with my expected results. In the
first part, the equilibrium shifted to the right when HCl was added to the system.
Additionally, in the second part of the lab, the equilibrium shifted to the left when the solid
Na 2 SO 4
crystal was mixed in the system. And finally, the last equilibrium shifted to the right
when

NaHSO4

was added to the system.

The result that I was unsure of adding

with the equilibrium shifting to the right.

Na2 EDTA

to a system displayed a result