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Which of the following will cause a reaction at equilibrium to go in the reverse direction so that products react to form reactants?

a) Adding more of a reactant to the reaction container
b) Removing a reactant from the reaction container
c) Removing a product from the reaction container
d) All of the above

User Patnz
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1 Answer

6 votes

Final answer:

At equilibrium, removing a reactant or product from the system will cause the reaction to shift in the reverse direction, thus producing more reactants.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a reaction is at equilibrium, any change in the concentration of reactants or products will cause the system to adjust in order to minimize that change, according to Le Chatelier's Principle. In this context, if we are looking to make an equilibrium reaction go in the reverse direction, we have several options based on this principle:

  • Adding more of a reactant will increase the forward reaction, which may not be the desired effect if we want the equilibrium to shift towards the reactants.
  • Removing a reactant will decrease the forward reaction; thus, the reverse reaction compensates by producing more reactant. This does help to shift the equilibrium towards the reactants.
  • Removing a product will cause an increased reverse reaction to replace the removed product, which again helps to shift the equilibrium towards the reactants.

Therefore, the correct answers are b) Removing a reactant from the reaction container, and c) Removing a product from the reaction container, as these actions will cause a reaction at equilibrium to go in the reverse direction.

User Vrajesh
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