Question

The following reaction was carried out in a 3.25 L reaction vessel at 1100 K:
$C(s) + H_2O(g) \rightleftharpoons CO(g) + H_2(g)$
If during the course of the reaction, the vessel is found to contain 5.25 mol of C, 13.3 mol of H₂O, 3.40 mol of CO, and 6.30 mol of H₂, what is the reaction quotient Q?
Enter the reaction quotient numerically.

Answer 1

Answer : The value of reaction quotient Q is, 0.498

Explanation:

Reaction quotient (Q) : It is defined as the measurement of the relative amounts of products and reactants present during a reaction at a particular time.

The given balanced chemical reaction is,

$C(s)+H_2O(g)\rightarrow CO(g)+H_2(g)$

The expression for reaction quotient will be :

$Q=\frac{[CO][H_2]}{[H_2O]}$

In this expression, only gaseous or aqueous states are includes and pure liquid or solid states are omitted.

Now we have to calculate the concentration of $H_2O,CO\text{ and }H_2$

$\text{Concentration of }H_2O=\frac{\text{Moles of }H_2O}{\text{Volume of solution}}=\frac{13.3mol}{3.25L}=4.09M$

and,

$\text{Concentration of }CO=\frac{\text{Moles of }CO}{\text{Volume of solution}}=\frac{3.40mol}{3.25L}=1.05M$

and,

$\text{Concentration of }H_2=\frac{\text{Moles of }H_2}{\text{Volume of solution}}=\frac{6.30mol}{3.25L}=1.94M$

Now put all the given values in the above expression, we get:

$Q=\frac{(1.05)\times (1.94)}{(4.09)}=0.498$

Thus, the value of reaction quotient Q is, 0.498