Shifting Left/Right

[Samantha Melin 2E]

How does a change in k cause an system to shift left or right?

[Naman Jain 3F]

It's more so the change in Q that causes a system to shift left or right. If Q>K (more products than reactants), then the reaction shifts left to use up the extra products. If Q<K (more reactants than products), then the reaction shifts right to use up the extra reactants.

[JacksonWissing2G]

The higher the K value the more that products are formed, which the reaction is leaning more to the right. When you have a smaller k value the opposite happens, where there are less products and more reactants, which means the reaction is leaning more to the left.

[Nathaniel John 2E]

Hello, if the value of k is less than 1 (usually a value of 10^-3 or less), then there are more reactants at equilibrium, and the reaction equilibrium will be towards the left. Additionally, if the value of k is greater than 1 (usually a value of 10^3 or greater), then there are generally more products at equilibrium, and the reaction is equilibrium is towards the right.

Hope this helps!

[Romi Moore 3k]

Hi, the shift is more dependent as K is generally supposed to remain a constant. In terms of comparing it to Q, a shift right is when Q<K it shift right, shifts left when Q>K and is at equilibrium when they are equal.

[Caitlin_Tang_Dis3H]

Just to clarify a little further, K only changes when there is a change in temperature. What determines whether the reaction will shift right or left is when Q is either larger or smaller than K. When Q > K the reaction produces more reactant, when Q < K the reaction proceeds to the products.

[Ethan_Choi_2I]

A situation where K could change and influence whether the system shifts left (towards reactants) or right (towards products) is when endothermic and exothermic reactions are in question. For example, with endothermic reactions, K increases as temperature increases which can cause Q<K and a shift towards the right (products). For exothermic reactions, K decreases as temperature increases which can causes Q>K and a shift towards the left (reactants).

[505734174]

It is more of the other way around. K would respond to a shift in equilibrium (if K is able to be changed due to temperature only) but usually, K remains constant and the concentrations of the products/reactants change.

[Ashley Presnell 1C]

Since K is a representation of the ratio of products to reactants or [P]/[R], a larger K, for example, would mean the numerator is higher and would lead to a higher favoring of the products than for a smaller value of K. This would mean the reaction is shifted right for higher values of K, and shifted left for smaller values, due to the relationship of the ratio presented by the K values.

[Gianna Sciole 2F]

K doesn't cause a shift, but rather explains why the Q value would result in a shift. If Q>K, then the forward reaction is favorable and more reactants are able to dissociate. If Q<K, then the reverse reaction is favorable because it is unlikely for the reactants to dissociate. Hope this helps!

[Mekenna Faulkner]

The shift depends on the ration of Q to K. When K is higher than Q it shifts right. K is representative of the amount of products so when it is higher its more likely to shift to the right

[Aaron Martinez]

When K is larger than 10^3, there are more products at equilibrium than reactants. When K is very small, then there are more reactants. Because of this, if K increases, this means that the equation will shift to the right, and if it decreases, it will shift to the left.

[Daniel Tabibian 3K]

it is more about how a change in Q affects the reaction. If Q is larger than K then the reaction will shift left to the reactants and vis versa.

[Joelle Tran 1K]

It's a change in Q that causes the equation to shift left or right to get back to its K (equilibrium constant) value! Depending on the change (concentration or pressure/volume), then the equation will shift in a certain direction, and the K value itself is not changed by the condition changes since the products and reactants re-establish their ratios to get back to the K constant value. A change in temperature, though, does change the K value.

[405509920]

Think of K as the set standard for the reaction. It's at "perfect" equilibrium where the ratio of formation of P & R are equal. Q in respect to K tells us which direction the reaction favors. Q>K then more products are present so the reverse reaction is favored while for Q<K more reactants are present so the forward reaction is favored.

[Nithya Narapa Reddy]

Changes in Q cause the equilibrium to shift. If Q>K then reaction shifts left and is favoring the reactants. If Q<K then the reaction shifts rights and is favoring the products.

[LouiseLin2L]

A change in temperature can change the value of K. An increase in temperature will favor the endothermic reaction. If the forwards reaction is endothermic, then the equilibrium position will lean more to the right than before and K will increase. At that moment however, Q will still be at the previous position because it takes time for equilibrium state to be reached again, meaning Q<K. This will then cause the system to shift to the right to achieve equilibrium. If the forwards reaction is exothermic, then K will decrease and Q>K, which causes the system to shift to the left.

[Skylar Lo 2C]

A change in K would shift the system depending on how it compares with the given value of Q. If the two values are equivalent, the system is at equilibrium. If Q<K the forward reaction will be favored and shift towards the products while if Q>K then the reverse reaction will be favored and will shift towards the reactants.

[Wilson Zheng 1L]

A shift would deal with Q (as the K values are constant and they will not change)! When Q > K, you have more product concentration compared to reactant concentrations, meaning that the system will want to produce more reactants to make the entire reaction return back to the original product and reactant concentration ratio. In this scenario, the reaction shifts to the left! The same occurs vice versa!

[Chiara Frank]

Hi! The value of the equilibrium constant K is constant and therefore would not change. However, when we calculate the value of the reaction quotient Q, we are able to identify a shift to the left or right in the system. If we are given the equilibrium constant K, and once we have the concentration values of the reactants and products, we can calculate Q the same way we would to find the K value ((concentration of products multiplied by one another)/(concentration of reactants multiplied by one another)). If the Q value is less than the given K value, the system will tend to the right, and therefore will tend to produce more products. This can be explained by the fact that in the Q equation, there was a higher concentration of reactants (denominator), making Q smaller. Following Le Chatelier's principle, if there is more reactant, the system will want to form more products to re-establish the equilibrium. If the Q value is more than the given K value, the system will tend to the left, and therefore will tend to produce more reactants. This can be explained by the fact that in the Q equation, there was a higher concentration of products (numerator), making Q larger. Again, following Le Chatelier's principle, if there is more product, the system will want to form more reactant to re-establish the equilibrium. Hope this was helpful!

[Natasha]

When there is a higher a k value above 1 it means more products are form and thus will "shift right." When there is a smaller k value below 1 means less products and more reactants and thus will "shift left."

[Vanessa Wiratmo 3k]

hello,

The K value is an equilibrium constant, so the K value would not "shift" a reaction left or right. It is the Q value that would tell you if the reaction needs to shift to reach equilibrium. The Q value is calculated at any point in the reaction to see whether a reaction has reached equilibrium or not. When Q=K, then the reaction has reached equilibrium. When Q>K, then there are more products than reactants (the reverse reaction is favored). When Q<K, then there are more reactants than products (the forward reaction is favored). A change in temperature will change the K value, but other stressors such as change in pressure and concentration will not change K.

[trevina_brown_2A]

The higher the K value the more that products are formed. If K increases this means that the equation will shift to the right, and if it decreases, it will shift to the left

[joshua_quinn_1C]

If K changes, you would need to look at how it changes compared to the Q value. If Q<K then there will need to be an increase in products meaning a shift to the right. If Q>K then more reactants will need to form meaning a shift to the left. Hope this helps!

[Maddie Klee 3K]

A higher K value corresponds to a higher amount of products at equilibrium, which means that the reaction will shift to the right. A smaller K value corresponds to a higher amount of reactants at equilibrium, which means that the reaction will shift to the left. When you refer to the changing value to determine the shift you typically will be looking at the Q value in relation to K (at equilibrium). When Q>K, the reaction is to the left. When Q<K, the reaction is to the right.

[Sarah Wang 1I]

If K is small (K<10^-3), there are more reactants at equilibrium, “equilibrium favors the left”, reactant-favored. If K is large (K>10^3), there more products at equilibrium, “equilibrium favors the right”, product-favored. If K is intermediate (10^-3 to 10^3), neither reactants nor products are strongly favored

[Alexander Moroz 1B]

K will only change when the temperature changes. Therefore, I believe you are reffering to Q when you say change causing reaction shift. The system shifts in whichever direction that alleviates pressure caused by a change in volume, pressure, or concentration.

[daniellediem1k]

k would not change unless there is a change in temperature because it is a constant

[Julia Zahra]

A change in K would not cause a shift left or right a change in Q might though.

[905565862]

K only changes when the temperature is changed so in most cases it will not cause a shift to the left or the right. In the case that there is a temperature change, you will need to calculate the value of Q in order to determine if the system has shifted left or right.

[Alyson Chou 3H]

I would try to think about this in terms of "shifting in the forward direction" or "shifting towards the products" instead of shifting towards the right & vice versa. This will just help with clarification later on!

[Amber1L]

The value of K remains constant (unless there is a change in temp) because it is a fixed ratio that represents when a reaction reaches equilibrium. However, the value of Q can be calculated to determine if the reaction in question will shift to the right or left to reach equilibrium.

[306022612]

When K decreases, by adding to the reactant or decreasing the product, it is said to move to the left because it is getting smaller. This also happens in the opposite for when K increases.