A chemist trying to synthesize a particular compound attempts two different synthesis reactions. The equilibrium constants for the two reactions are 23.3 and 2.2 * 104 at room temperature. However, upon carrying out both reactions for 15 minutes, the chemist finds that the reaction with the smaller equilibrium constant produces more of the desired product. Explain how this might be possible.

Video transcript

Hello everyone today, we are being asked to identify which of these statements is incorrect. A says A says the equilibrium constant tells us how quickly or slowly reaction occurs. This is actually false. How quickly a reaction occurs, deals with kinetics, not equilibrium constant, which is a thermodynamic property. That makes question or answer choice a. The correct one. As in it is incorrect. B says the equilibrium constant identifies whether reactions or products are favored. This is true, she says. The equilibrium constant only depends on temperature. Once again, that is a true statement, and D says the equilibrium constant is the ratio of the rate constants of the forward and reverse reactions. This is also a true statement. So the incorrect statement is Andrew choice A. I hope this helped and until next time.