The position of equilibrium indicates the extent of a chemical reaction. If the position of equilibrium moves to the right, more product is made. If the position of equilibrium shifts to the left, less product is made or more product breaks down into the reactants in the reverse reaction.Le Chatelier's principle states that when a system in equilibrium is subjected to an external change, the system readjusts itself to minimise the effect of that change.
Le Chatelier's Principle
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Specification: OCR Chemistry A (H032), AS-level, 3.2.3 Chemical equilibrium. Topic: Equilibrium.
Key terms in this lesson
- Position of equilibrium
- The relative amounts of reactants and products present when a reversible reaction has reached equilibrium.
More in Equilibrium
- Dynamic Equilibrium
- Effect of Changing the Concentration on the Position of Equilibrium
- Effects of Temperature on the Position of Equilibrium
- Effects of Pressure on the position of Equilibrium
- Effects of Catalysts on the Position of Equilibrium
- The Haber Process
- The Equilibrium Law
- Calculating the Equilibrium Constant
All 10 lessons in Equilibrium · All OCR AS-level Chemistry topics