An equilibrium constant is a numerical value that indicates the extent to which a chemical reaction proceeds in the forward direction, relative to the equilibri...
An equilibrium constant is a numerical value that indicates the extent to which a chemical reaction proceeds in the forward direction, relative to the equilibrium. It is equal to the ratio of the concentrations of the products divided by the ratio of the concentrations of the reactants at equilibrium, raised to their respective stoichiometric coefficients.
Where:
K: Equilibrium constant
[C] and [A]: Concentrations of the respective reactants
p and n: Stoichiometric coefficients of the balanced chemical equation.
In simpler terms, an equilibrium constant tells us how the concentrations of the products and reactants change as the reaction proceeds. A large equilibrium constant indicates that the equilibrium lies strongly in the forward direction, while a small equilibrium constant indicates that the equilibrium lies mostly in the reverse direction.
For example, consider the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to form water:
If we were to calculate the equilibrium constant for this reaction, we would find that:
This tells us that the reaction lies equally in both directions at equilibrium, meaning that the concentrations of all reactants and products are the same at equilibrium