Question

Consider this reaction taking place in a closed 2 liter container:

2SO2(g) + O2(g) → 2SO3(g)



If the volume of the container is decreased to 1 liter, what will happen to the equilibrium of the reaction?

Question 16 options:

It will shift left.


It will remain constant.


It will shift right.


It will decrease by half.

Answer 1

When the volume of the container is decreased, the equilibrium will shift to the right, favoring the production of more SO3.

Step-by-step explanation:

When the volume of the container is decreased, the pressure increases. According to Le Chatelier's principle, the equilibrium will shift in the direction that reduces the pressure. In this reaction, there are fewer moles of gas on the product side (2 moles of SO3) compared to the reactant side (3 moles of SO2 and 1 mole of O2). Therefore, the equilibrium will shift to the right, favoring the production of more SO3.

Answer 2

According to Le Chatelier's principle, if a system at equilibrium is subjected to a change, the system will respond in a way that tends to counteract that change and reestablish equilibrium.

In this case, if the volume of the container is decreased from 2 liters to 1 liter, the concentration of all the gases in the container will increase because the same amount of gas is now present in a smaller volume. This will create a shift in the equilibrium of the reaction in the direction that produces fewer moles of gas to counteract the increase in pressure.

Looking at the balanced chemical equation, we can see that the reaction produces 2 moles of SO3 for every 3 moles of reactants. Therefore, the reaction produces fewer moles of gas than the reactants.

So, to counteract the increase in pressure caused by decreasing the volume, the equilibrium of the reaction will shift in the direction that produces fewer moles of gas. This means that the equilibrium will shift to the right, producing more SO3 gas to reduce the concentration of SO2 and O2 gases, and reestablish equilibrium.

Therefore, the correct option is:

C. It will shift right.