finding change in concentration in ICE tables
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finding change in concentration in ICE tables
How do you figure out what the change in concentration is if you only have the initial concentration and the balanced equation? For instance, if you have the equation CO(g) + H2O(g) --> CO2(g) + H2(g) and the initial concentration of both of the reactants is 0.1M, how do you find the change in concentration?
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Re: finding change in concentration in ICE tables
The change in concentration is represented in terms of x and whether there is a coefficient paired with the x depends on if there are coefficients in the balanced equation. The negative signs depends on which way the reaction is occurring. Hope this helps.
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Re: finding change in concentration in ICE tables
You'd use the tables if you have an unknown change in the concentrations (represented by X). In the equation you said, the initial concentrations of each of the reactants would be changed by -X, while each of the products would be changed by +X. You would find the final equilibrium concentrations in terms of X, then plug them into the expression for K to determine the value of X.
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Re: finding change in concentration in ICE tables
When you don't know the quantitative change in concentration, you can replace the value with variable X. For example, CO and H2O would decrease X amount in reaction, while CO2 and H2 would increase X amount. By doing this, you can mathematically figure out the actual numerical value of X by using the quadratic formula.
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