C in ICE Box

[Ashley Lopez 3J]

How do we know when the Change in equilibrium is negative or positive for products/reactants?

[Joyce Pang 2H]

When something reacts to form product, the reactant's change would be negative, because you're "losing" the reactant in favor of forming more product. So naturally, the change in product would be positive, since you're gaining some.

[Xinyu Li 1C]

The change in reactants is always negative and the change in products is always positive because reactants are being used up to form products.

[Sable Summerfield]

So, what exactly does the x mean? Is it like a placeholder for the value of the concentration?

[Gustavo_Chavez_1K]

Yeah, when you are losing reactant then the reactant's change would be negative and with that the product's change would be positive since you are gaining some. This could also be done in the reverse order so gaining reactant and losing product.

[Michael Cardenas 3B]

The change in reactants is usually negative and the change in the products is usually positive because naturally the reactants should decrease, while the products increase in concentration.

[Mina Tadros 3L]

Whatever is reacting to form something else will be the negative one. That is because as the reaction proceeds, the reactant's concentration will begin to decrease while the product(s) it is forming will be increasing. That is why it would be positive for products, and for reactants, it would be negative.

[Abraham De Luna]

The change in reactants is always negative while the change in products is always positive.

[Sofia Azmat 1I]

This depends on what you have initially, and what you will end up losing in the reaction. If you are using up more reactant to form the product, you would use a negative sign for the reactants and positive for the products. If the reaction is reversible, look at the arrow between the balanced equation, and whatever it points to increases, and whatever it points away from decreases.

[Ariana Flores 3F]

so you couldn't have a positive reactant and positive product value, one needs to be negative?

[Joyce Pang 2H]

So, what exactly does the x mean? Is it like a placeholder for the value of the concentration?

Yea, it would represent the change in concentration. Like x amount reacted to form product, and is thus subtracted from the initial concentration.

[Carolina Gomez 2G]

The change in equilibrium is negative/ positive depending on the direction of the reaction. If the reaction is going towards the products then the reactants will be negative and the products will be positive. This means that there is excess reactants that will form more products until it reaches equilibrium, hence why the products is positive. If the reaction is going towards the reactants, the products are negative and the reactants are positive. This means that products are going to form reactants until the reaction is in equilibrium.

[Sofia Azmat 1I]

so you couldn't have a positive reactant and positive product value, one needs to be negative?

As far as I know, yes. One will always be positive and the other will always be negative. To determine which is which, you need to look at what the initial values are as well as what is being lost and what is being gained in the reaction.

[VincentLe_3A]

In the specific direction that the reaction takes place, the reactants would have negative change because they are being used up while the products would have a positive change because they are being formed. The coefficients for these changes can be found in corresponding stoichiometric coefficients the balanced chemical equation for the reaction.

[Kiyoka Kim 3C]

If you were given the initial concentrations for the reactants and products, you could calculate Q to check which direction the reaction will proceed. Then from there whatever is the "reactant" will have a negative change, and the "product" will have a positive change.

[Olivia Smith 2E]

It will be negative anytime those molecules are being transformed into another molecule. Such as a reactant to product scenario. It simply means you are taking some of one reactant or sometimes product if given the product values, to form the product or reactant!

[Lucy_Balish_3G]

The change for products is negative because they are going to form reactants. Because reactants are being formed, their C is positive.

[Kathy_Li_1H]

Hi! I believe it just depends on the equation. If you have more of the reactant than product, the forward reaction would likely take place and as a result, the second row would be negative for the reactants and positive for the reactant. This same principle applies in reverse reactions or when there is more product than reactant.

[Chloe Shamtob 2H]

To know whether a change in equilibrium is negative or positive for the reactants, you must pay attention to the direction of the reactions. When a reaction favors the products (reactants form from product), the reactant's change (or C in the ice box) would be negative. When a reaction favors the reactants (products form from reactants) the change in product would be positive. This is because you are gaining product and loosing reactant.

[Sheryl Ocampo 1D]

the amount in the products is going to decrease, which will cause the products to increase