CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

solubility product constant    →   konstanta produkta topljivosti

Solubility product constant (K_sp) (or the solubility product) is the product of the molar concentrations of the constituent ions, each raised to the power of its stoichiometric coefficient in the equilibrium equation. For instance, if a compound A_aB_b is in equilibrium with its solution

the solubility product is given by

equilibrium constant    →   konstanta ravnoteže

The equilibrium constant (K) was originally introduced in 1863 by Norwegian chemists C.M. Guldberg and P. Waage using the law of mass action. For a reversible chemical reaction represented by the equation

chemical equilibrium occurs when the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the back reaction, so that the concentrations of products and reactants reach steady-state values.

The equilibrium constant is the ratio of chemical activities of the species A, B, C, and D at equilibrium.

To a certain approximation, the activities can be replaced by concentrations.

For gas reactions, partial pressures are used rather than concentrations

The units of K_p and K_c depend on the numbers of molecules appearing in the stoichiometric equation (a, b, c, and d).

The value equilibrium constant depends on the temperature. If the forward reaction is exothermic, the equilibrium constant decreases as the temperature rises. The equilibrium constant shows the position of equilibrium. A low value of K indicates that [C] and [D] are small compared to [A] and [B]; i.e. that the back reaction predominates.

The equilibrium constant is related to Δ_rG°, the standard Gibbs free energy change in the reaction, by

thermite    →   termit

Thermite is a stoichiometric powdered mixture of iron(II) oxide and aluminium for the reaction

The reaction is highly exothermic and the increase in temperature (over 2500 °C) is sufficient to melt the iron produced. It has been used for localized welding of steel object (e.g. railway lines) in the thermit process. Thermite is also used in incendiary bombs.

thermochemical equation    →   termokemijska jednadžba

Thermochemical equation is a compact equation representing a chemical reaction that describes both the stoichiometry and the energetics of the reaction. For example, the thermochemical equation

means When one mole of gaseous methane is burned in two moles of oxygen gas, one mole of carbon dioxide gas and 2 moles of steam are produced, and 2 220 kJ of heat are released.