## Determining the Magnitude of K

$K = \frac{k_{forward}}{k_{reverse}}$

Rogelio Bazan 1D
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:01 am

### Determining the Magnitude of K

In lector today (3/11) Dr. Llavelle briefly spoke about what determines the magnitude of K, can someone clarify what he meant by this? It was toward the end of the lecture so I wasn't able to write everything down. Thank you.

Melody P 2B
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:06 am

### Re: Determining the Magnitude of K

Rogelio Bazan 1D wrote:In lector today (3/11) Dr. Llavelle briefly spoke about what determines the magnitude of K, can someone clarify what he meant by this? It was toward the end of the lecture so I wasn't able to write everything down. Thank you.

Are you referring to capital K(equilibrium)? or lowercase k (rate constant). Towards the end of the lecture, Lavelle was referring to k and some of the factors that determine the magnitude of k, such as temperature and activation energy. Here's a picture of that last slide. Increasing temperature, increases k, and increasing activation energy decreases k. There's an equation that explains why that is. He said he would mention it in more detail on Wednesday.

aisteles1G
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:15 am

### Re: Determining the Magnitude of K

Im not sure if this is exactly what youre looking for but maybe it will help, The equilibrium constant Kc is equal to the forward reaction rate/ the reverse reaction rate (Kc=Kr/Kr'), so if you heat up an endothermic process (higher forward Ea than reverse Ea) Kc will increase since the forward reaction rate (Kr) is increased from the added heat (products are favored). And if you add heat to an exothermic process (lower forward Ea than reverse Ea) Kc will decrease since the reverse reaction rate is increased (reactants are favored). Hope this helps! theres also more explanations in the 7D chapter of the book (7th ed.) on Kc magnitude.

Rogelio Bazan 1D
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:01 am

### Re: Determining the Magnitude of K

That is my bad, I apologize for not explaining which k I was referring to but in this case, I am referring to lowercase k (rate constant). The picture helps clarifies my confusion, I appreciate it.

Just to make sure. As temperature increases, k increases, and when activation energy increases, then k decreases? Thanks.