EQUILIBRIUM LAB DANIELLE POSEN

PROBLEM STATEMENT

An investigation into the equilibrium and shifts in the equilibrium in the reaction below: [Fe(H2O)6]3+(aq) + SCN(aq) [Fe(H2O)5SCN]2+(aq) + H2O(l)
BACKGROUND (THEORY BEHIND LE CHATELIERS PRINCIPLE AND EXPLAINS DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM)

Equilibrium takes place in a reversible reaction once the forward reaction has taken place for long enough for products to be produced so that they too can react in the reverse reaction in order to make reactants. There are two main types of equilibriums a static equilibrium which produces products and then refrains from continuing reacting until energy is added such as heat that begins the reaction again. Dynamic equilibrium takes place when the products turn into reactants and reactants into products continuously. Le Chandeliers principle concerns dynamic equilibriums and shows the shifts that can occur with changes to the concentration, pressure and temperature. Le Chantalierers principle takes the collision theory and puts it in practice in changes to an equilibrium. If concentration of the reactants increase than there will be more particles therefore more collosion between these particles as a result a higher amount of products will be formed, as said in Le Chantaliers principle. If pressure is increased there is less space for particles to move therefore a higher amount of collisions producing a shift in equilibrium. Lastly if temperature is increased there is more energy in the reaction and particles move faster as a result colliding more. This theory is a main factor in the reason for shifts in a Dynamic Equilibrium because of temperature, pressure and concentration.
MATERIALS

100cm3 measuring cylinder 20cm3 measuring cylinder 4X 100cm3 beakers Stirring rod 90cm3 of 0.02 mol dm-3 aqueous potassium thiocyanate 12cm3 of aqueous 0.1 mol dm-3 iron(III) nitrate. a little solid potassium thiocyanate a spatula full of sodium fluoride dropper

SAFETY CONCERNS

Wear gloves when dealing with chemicals Wear goggles at all times Wear lab coat as the chemicals can stain clothing Do not touch eyes before washing hands Tie up hair and other loose clothing

PROCEDURE

The procedure and questions asked during the experiment:

A: THE REACTION BETWEEN IRON (III) IONS AND THIOYANATE IONS

1) In a 100cm3 measuring cylinder mix together 90cm3 of 0.02 mol dm-3 aqueous potassium thiocyanate and 10cm3 aqueous 0.1 mol dm-3 iron (III) nitrate. 2) Mix thoroughly and divide the solution equally amongst four 100cm3 beakers labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4 3) Keep the beaker labelled 1 as a control for the other parts of the experiment. You will use the other three for the later parts of the experiment 4) Record your observations about what you saw taking place as the solutions were mixes and what you infer from this.
B: INCREASING THE CONCENTRATION OF IRON (III) IONS

5) To beaker 2 add 2 cm3 of the aqueous iron (III) nitrate. Compare it with beaker 1. What is the difference? 6) How can you explain this? 7) What would you expect the effect of adding extra potassium thiocyanate to be?
C: INCREASE THE CONCENTRATION OF THIOCYANATE IONS

8) To beaker 3 add a little solid potassium thiocyanate. Compare it with beaker 1. Were your observations in keeping with your predictions above? 9) How has adding extra thiocyanate affected the amount of the complex ion? 10) How can this be explained?
D: ADDING FLUORIDE I ONS

11) Add a spatula full of solid sodium fluoride to beaker 4. Compare it with beaker 1. How did the color of the solution change? 12) How has the concentration of the complex ion been affected? 13) Flopride ions do not react directly with the complex ions but they do react with iron(III) ions to give a colourless, soluble product. What does the effect of fluoride ions show about the reaction of iron(III) ions and thiocyanate ions to form the complex?

RAW AND PRESENTED DATA

TABLE 1: THE CREATION OF THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

KSCN (aq)

Fe(NO3) (aq)

Control: 90cm3 of 0.02 mol dm-3 KSCH (aq) + 10 cm3 0.1 mol dm-3 of Fe(NO3) (aq)

Color

(translucent)

TABLE 2: THE CHANGES TO THE CONTROLLED VARIABLE BY ADDING F e(NO 3 ), KSCH AND NaF

The added substance Change

Fe(NO3) (aq) Slightly less blood-red

KSCN (s) More blood-red

NaF (s) Turns light red then translucent ( t (translucent)

Color with additional substance Control Color

CONCLUSION (ABOUT THE SHIFT IN EQUILIBRIUM CAUSED BY EACH FACTOR STUDIED)

The addition of Fe(NO3) causes a shift to the reactant side as the color changes to a yellowbrown instead of a blood red. As a result it can be concluded that the addition of this substance creates more products therefore there is a larger amount of particles increasing the chances of collision and therefore creating more reactants making the color change to a yellow-brown. The addition of KSCN makes the substance more blood-red therefore shifting equilibrium to the side of the products as there are more reactants increasing the chance of collision and increasing the amount of products formed. The addition of NaF changes the intensity of the colorization because the concentration of iron(III) ions is reduced as the fluorine bonds with the iron making a the FeF 63- ion. This creates the translucent appearance of the solution. However if enough Fe(NO3) or KSCN is added the colour will return to the solution. This is an exothermic forward reaction therefore if temperature was decreased the solution would become more blood-red as more products would be formed as temperature effects the endothermic reaction more than that of the exothermic reaction.

This is an exothermic forward reaction therefore If temperature was increased the solution would become more brownish yellow as there are more reactants present. This is because the decrease in temperature affects the endothermic reaction more than the exothermic therefore resulting in a higher amount of reactants being formed
EVALUATION OF YOUR RESULTS COMPARED TO ACCEPTED RESULTS

The IB Chemisty text book written by John Green and Sadru Damji examines this equation in terms of concentration changes and Le Chantliers Principle. It states that if aqueous thiocyanate ions are added than the solution will turn a more blood-red color. This too was seen in this experiment in which the addition of solid potassium thiocyanate changed the color of the solution to a blood like color. The addition of Fe(NO3) makes the solution more of a yellow-brown color because the equilibrium shifts to the left. Lastly, the addition of fluoride ions makes the solution lose its color by become more translucent similar to the color of the SCN - ions. A note to remember is that none of the changes of color are permanent one can add potassium thiocyanate to make it more blood-red and then shortly after add an increased amount of Fe(NO3) to restore the original color or make it more yellow-brown, this shows the dynamic aspect of the equilibrium in which products are continues being formed into reactants and reactants into products.