Law of Mass Action

[Alison Trinh 1E]

In the textbook, it discusses the law of mass action and how it relates to equilibrium, but I can't seem to grasp the idea. Could someone clarify what the law is and how it relates to chemical equilibrium?

[alex_4l]

The Law of Mass Action is the principle that the rate of a chemical reaction is proportional to the masses of the reacting substances. Relating that to chemical equilibrium, the Law states that "if the system is at equilibrium at a given temp, then the following ratio is a constant." It's a little confusing to grasp but I hope that helps at least a little!

[haileyramsey-1c]

The Law of Mass Action gives us the equation K= [C]^c[D^]d/[A]^a[B]^b. The law of mass action allows us to use the ratios of reactants and products of pressures and concentrations to determine the constant.

[andrewcj 2C]

In short, the Law of Mass Action just states that for a set temperature, the equilibrium constant K does not change.