Definition of an Inert Gas

[Scot Widjaja Dis 1J]

In Dr. Lavelle's lecture on Le Chatelier's Principle, he talks about how adding an inert gas to a container does not effect the reaction since there is no change in the concentration of reactants, products, and volume. What is the exact definition of an inert gas and why does adding one to a container produce no change in the overall equilibrium reaction?

[Nick Pascua 2L]

An inert gas is a gas that does that not react with any other chemicals. If you can recall from 14A, these are the noble gas elements found in the last column of the periodic table (He, Ne, Ar, etc). They have full valence electron shells thus they do not react. With that being said, adding an inert gas into a closed container will not react and change any of the chemical composition so the equilibrium constant will stay the same.

[Taylor Newville 1C]

In Dr. Lavelle's lecture on Le Chatelier's Principle, he talks about how adding an inert gas to a container does not effect the reaction since there is no change in the concentration of reactants, products, and volume. What is the exact definition of an inert gas and why does adding one to a container produce no change in the overall equilibrium reaction?

An inert gas is another name for nobles gases (group 18 of the periodic table) that do not undergo chemical reactions. This is due to the fact that their outermost electron shell is filled. Since they do not react with other substances, they have no effect on equilibrium.

[David Jen 1J]

An inert gas is a element that doesn't react to other elements because it's valence shell is filled. Often it is the noble gases because the valence shell is filled.

[Justin Nguyen 3E]

Adding an inert gas to a container of constant volume will increase its overall pressure, but because the gas does not react with neither products nor reactants, equilibrium won't shift in any direction.

[Xavier Herrera 3H]

An inert gas doesn't react with any other compounds, so when you add it into a container, it won't cause a change in concentration for anything involved in the reaction. I suppose that in real life adding an inert gas in a closed container would slightly decrease the volume, since the particles take up space. However, we're treating all gases as if they're ideal, so in that case the particles don't take up space.

[Sameer Chowdhury 3C]

Inert gases are ones that do interact with the reactants or products because they have completely filled valence shells meaning they cannot contribute to any change in the direction of the reaction.

[Scot Widjaja Dis 1J]

Hey guys, thanks for your responses. I appreciate it a lot.

[Gian Boco 2G]

Inert Gases are the gases on the very right side of the periodic table. They are called inert gases because their atomic structure makes it so that they are in a very stable state, rendering them highly UNreactive. Thus, putting them into a container with other gases involved in a reaction is done for the purpose of increasing the pressure in the container (there are more molecules in the container with the added inert gas) without actually changing the reaction. However, it will not change equilibrium of said reaction because the moles of those gases as well as the volume remains constant. No change in these gas concentrations means no change in equilibrium.

[Ven Chavez 2K]

An inert gas refers to the noble gases and they do not react with other substances and thereby do not affect the system. Therefore, they do not affect the chemical equation and do not change the volume of the system.

[Shreyank Kadadi 3K]

Inert gases usually refer to group 18 of the periodic table, otherwise known as the noble gases. They are known as inert because they do not readily react with anything else, a property that arises due to their full valence shells.

[Aditya Sundaram 3D]

In Dr. Lavelle's lecture on Le Chatelier's Principle, he talks about how adding an inert gas to a container does not effect the reaction since there is no change in the concentration of reactants, products, and volume. What is the exact definition of an inert gas and why does adding one to a container produce no change in the overall equilibrium reaction?

Inert gasses are noble gasses and thus don't react with most reactants and products thus not producing a change in overall equilibrium. It's similar to the water situation where there's the noble gas before and after in basically the same amount and thus it doesn't really matter to calculate the K.

[VincentLe_3A]

An inert gas is a gas which does not react with the reactants or products of the chemical reaction in a certain system. Therefore, since there is no interaction, the inert gas would not affect the ratios of products and reactants, thus leaving the equilibrium constant unchanged.

[Kathy_Li_1H]

Hi! Inert gases are gases that do not react / affect the chemical equilibrium. Examples of inert gases are the noble gases (Group 18)

[derickngo3d]

An inert gas is a member of the noble gases.

[Naomi Hernandez-Ramirez 1J]

Inert gas= a gas which does not react with the reactants or products of the chemical reaction