When a chemical is manufactured, chemists and chemical engineers choose conditio

Question

When a chemical is manufactured, chemists and chemical engineers choose conditions that will favor the production of the desired product as much as possible. In the early 20^th century. Fritz Haber developed a process for the large-scale production of ammonia from its constituent elements. Some of his results are summarized in the chart below. Write the balanced chemical equation, including the heat term, for the synthesis of ammonia from its constituent elements. Based on the results above, explain the effect of temperature on the equilibrium position of the reaction. Explain the effect of pressure on the equilibrium position of the reaction. The optimal conditions to synthesize ammonia are high pressures and low temperatures. However, each factor comes with a drawback: high pressures require strong pipework and hardware and at low temperatures, the reaction is slow. In order to get high yields of ammonia at lower pressures and higher temperatures, ammonia is removed from the system as it is formed. Use LeChatelier's principle to explain why this is effective.

Explanation / Answer

1) the equation will be

N2 (g) + 3H2(g)   --> 2NH3 (g)   Delta H = negative

2) as shown in the graph when we increase the temperature the production of ammonia decreases.

This can be explained with the help of Le-Chatelier's Priniciple which states that the equilibrium will shift towards the side where the stress can be nullified.

Here the reaction is exothermic and when we will increase the temperature the reaction will go in backward direction

3) As we can see in the bar diagram the equilibrium shifts towards forward direction on increasing the pressure of the sytem.

The number of moles of reactants is more than the number of moles of products

When we increase the pressure the system will try to move in the direction where we can nullify the pressure increase, so it will move towards side where the number of moles of gas is less.

So it shifts towards forward direction

4) According to Le-chatelier's principle the equilibrium will shift in the diection where the stress can be nullified.

When we remove the ammonia produced, we are actually decreasing the concentration of ammonia in the sytem. so the system will try to form more ammonia and it will shift towards forward direction.

so the ammonia formation will increase.

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