Kim, Frederick

Nevens, Aidan
Period 6
2-11-15
Exploring Equilibrium Mini-Lab Login to the computer and open a web browser. Go to
http://phet.colorado.edu. Click Play with Sims, then find the Chemistry section, and choose
Reactions and Rates. When the simulation is open, click on the Many Collisions tab. Look at
the screen and observe everything you can find out about the reaction pictured, A + BC AB +
C.
1) What type of reaction is it? Is it endo or exothermic?
The reaction is endothermic because the energy of the products is greater than the energy of the
reactants. This means that energy is entering the system.
2) Predict what will happen when 50 As are added to the box and 50 BCs are added. Since
reactants are being added, products will be created spontaneously. Also, the pressure within the
system will increase since the volume is constant while molecules are entering the system.
3) In the box labeled current amounts, enter 50 for A and 50 for BC. a) Was your prediction
correct? Describe and explain any differences. Our prediction was correct. The system fills up
and the temperature fluctuates. The amount of reactants decreases and the amount of products
increases in order to reach equilibrium. b) Describe the nature of dynamic equilibrium when
small numbers of particles (such as 50, as compared to 6.022 x 1023) are present. When small
amounts of particles are present, equilibrium is not reached immediately; rather, it is a slow
process. However, the reaction progresses at a constant, steady rate.
4) Predict what will happen when the temperature is raised so it is NOT above the activation
energy max but IS above the energy level of the products. The pressure within the system will
increase and there will be more collisions between the molecules.
5) Raise the temperature as described. Did your prediction come true? Describe and explain any
differences. At first, the molecules were bouncing all over the place. Then, they settled down and
the number of reactants increased while the number of products decreased.
6) Predict what will happen when the temperature is raised so it is above the activation energy
max. We predict there would be fewer collisions because the temperature exceeds the activation
energy.
7) Raise the temperature as described. Again, was your prediction correct? Describe and explain
any differences. When the temperature was raised, the system went to equilibrium at a fast rate.
8) What did you notice about the rate at which reactants/products fluctuated between the three
different temperatures? If you didnt notice anything, hit reset all and test it again. At the initial
temperature, the rate at which equilibrium occurred was slow. When the temperature was above

the energy level of the products, the rate increased. However, the rate was fastest when the
temperature was raised above the activation energy max.
9) Did temperature affect equilibrium position? Did it affect it in the way you expected? Explain.
Although temperature affected the rate of equilibrium, it did not affect the fact that the reaction
reached equilibrium. There were always more reactants than products, until the reaction reached
equilibrium. I did not expect equilibrium to be reached so quickly at high temperatures.
10) Did temperature affect reaction rate? Did it affect it in the way you expected? Explain.
Temperature did affect reaction rate; as temperature increased, the reaction rate also increased. It
was affected in the way I expected.
11) Write the equilibrium expression for this reaction. Because of the way the numbers fluctuate,
it would be hard to calculate the equilibrium constant, but how would you do it if the numbers
ever settled down? K = [AB][C]
[A][BC]
We would take the concentrations of each term. We need to multiply the concentrations of the
products and divide it by the concentrations of the reactants, multiplied.