Question

When AG°=0 in a chemical reaction, under standard conditions,

A) reactants and products are at equilibrium.
B) work can be done; energy is required.
C) the reaction is spontaneous to the left.
D) no work can be done, no energy is required.
E) reactants and products are at equilibrium; no work can be done; no energy required.

Answer 1

When AG°=0 under standard conditions, the reaction is at equilibrium, meaning that there is no net change in the concentrations of reactants and products, and no additional work can be done as the system's free energy is minimized.

Step-by-step explanation:

When AG°=0 in a chemical reaction, under standard conditions, it indicates that the reaction is at equilibrium. This means that the forward and reverse reaction rates are equal, and the reaction can do no additional net work since the available free energy is at a minimum at this point. Therefore, the correct answer is E) reactants and products are at equilibrium; no work can be done; no energy required.

It's important to note that this state does not mean that reactants and products stop transforming into each other; rather, the rate of the forward reaction is equal to the rate of the reverse reaction, and the concentrations of reactants and products remain constant over time. This concept is closely tied to the Gibbs free energy (G), where AG is the change in Gibbs free energy. For a system at equilibrium under standard conditions, Keq (the equilibrium constant) equals 1, signifying that neither reactants nor products are favored.