Question

When the system is at equilibrium, it contains NO 2 at a pressure of 0.817 atm , and N 2 O 4 at a pressure of 0.0667 atm . The volume of the container is then reduced to half its original volume. What is the pressure of each gas after equilibrium is reestablished

Answer 1

When the volume of a container is reduced, the pressure of the gases inside will increase. We can use the ideal gas law equation and the stoichiometric coefficients in the balanced equation to calculate the changes in partial pressure and determine the new equilibrium pressures of NO2 and N2O4.

Step-by-step explanation:

When the volume of a container is reduced, the pressure of gases inside will increase. In this case, after the volume is reduced to half its original size, the pressure of NO2 and N2O4 will increase to establish a new equilibrium. To determine the new pressures, we can use the ideal gas law equation (PV = nRT) and the ratio of the stoichiometric coefficients in the balanced equation to calculate the changes in partial pressure.

For NO2, the change in partial pressure = 2x, and for N2O4, the change in partial pressure = x. Since the initial pressure of NO2 is 0.817 atm and N2O4 is 0.0667 atm, we can substitute these values into the equation and solve for x.

After calculating x, the new equilibrium pressure of NO2 will be 0.817 + 2x atm and the new equilibrium pressure of N2O4 will be 0.0667 + x atm.