Question

In a series of reactions, A →B→ C →D, it was determined that the equiLiBrium constant for the second reaction (B → C) is 0.1. You would expect the concentration of C in a living cell to be:

1) equal to B
2) one-tenth of B
3) less than one-tenth of B
4) 10 times that of B
5) more than 10 times that of B

Answer 1

For the reaction B → C with an equilibrium constant of 0.1, the concentration of C is expected to be one-tenth of the concentration of B at equilibrium, indicating that option 2 is the correct answer.

Step-by-step explanation:

The equilibrium constant (Keq) for a chemical reaction is the ratio of the concentration of products to the concentration of reactants at equilibrium. For the reaction B → C where Keq is 0.1, we can set up the expression Keq = [C]/[B]. Given that Keq is less than 1, this implies that the concentration of C is less than the concentration of B at equilibrium. Specifically, since Keq is 0.1, it means that the concentration of C is expected to be one-tenth of the concentration of B in the reaction.

Therefore, in a series of reactions A → B → C → D, with the equilibrium constant for the second reaction (B → C) being 0.1, we expect the concentration of C in a living cell to be one-tenth that of B, which corresponds to the second option provided.