Question

Consider the following reaction at equilibrium. What effect will increasing the pressure of the reaction mixture have on the system?CuS(s) + O2(g) ↔ Cu(s) + SO2(g)No effect will be observed.The reaction will shift to the left in the direction of reactants.The equilibrium constant will decrease.The equilibrium constant will increase.The reaction will shift to the right in the direction of products.

Answer 1

Answer:

No effect will be observed.

Explanation:

Let's consider the following reaction at equilibrium.

CuS(s) + O₂(g) ↔ Cu(s) + SO₂(g)

To assess the effect of increasing the pressure, we need to consider Le Chatelier's Principle: if a system at equilibrium suffers a perturbation, it will shift its equilibrium to counteract the effect of such perturbation.

According to the ideal gas equation, the pressure of a gas is proportional to the number of moles. If we increase the temperature, the system will try to reduce it by shifting the equilibrium towards the side with less gaseous moles. However, in this reaction, we have the same number on gaseous moles on the left side and on the right side (1 mole). As a consequence, the increase in the temperature will have no effect on the equilibrium.