Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach 8th Edition

Published by McGraw-Hill Education
ISBN 10: 0-07339-817-9
ISBN 13: 978-0-07339-817-4

Chapter 16 - Chemical and Phase Equilibrium - Problems - Page 830: 16-9C

Answer

(a) No (b) Yes

Work Step by Step

(a) No, because $K_p$ depends on temperature only. (b) Yes, because the total mixture pressure affects the mixture composition. The equilibrium constant for the reaction $CO+\frac{1}{2}O_2\Longleftrightarrow CO_2$ can be expressed as $$\begin{aligned} K_p=\frac{N_{CO_2}^{v_{CO_2}}}{N_{CO}^{v_{CO}}N_{O_2}^{v_{O_2}}}\left(\frac{P}{N_{total}}\right)^{v_{CO_2}-v_{CO}-v_{O_2}} \end{aligned}$$ The value of the exponent in this case is 1-1-0.5=-0.5, which is negative. Thus as the pressure increases, the term in the brackets will decrease. The value of $Kp$ depends on temperature only, and therefore it will not change with pressure. Then to keep the equation balanced, the number of moles of the products ($CO_2$) must increase, and the number of moles of the reactants ($CO$, $O_2$) must decrease.
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