If a reaction has a small equilibrium constant, the equilibrium position favors the reactants. In such reactions, a negligible change in concentration may occur if the initial concentrations of reactants are high and the Kc value is small. In such circumstances, the equilibrium concentration is approximately equal to its initial concentration.  This estimation can be used to simplify the equilibrium calculations by assuming that some equilibrium concentrations are equal to the initial...

Being able to calculate equilibrium concentrations is essential to many areas of science and technology—for example, in the formulation and dosing of pharmaceutical products. After a drug is ingested or injected, it is typically involved in several chemical equilibria that affect its ultimate concentration in the body system of interest. Knowledge of the quantitative aspects of these equilibria is required to compute a dosage amount that will solicit the desired therapeutic effect.
A more...

All chemical reactions begin with a reactant, the general term for one or more substances entering the reaction. Sodium and chloride ions, for example, are the reactants in the production of table salt. One or more substances produced by a chemical reaction are called the product. Chemical reactions follow the law of conservation of mass, which means that matter cannot be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. The components of the reactants—the number of atoms and the...

The free energy change associated with dissolving a solute in a liter of solvent is called the free energy of a solution, ΔGsolution. The overall ΔGsolution is expressed as the balance of ΔGinteraction against the always-favorable free-energy of mixing, ΔGmixing. Solution formation is favorable if  ΔGsolution is less than zero, whereas it is unfavorable if ΔGsolution is greater than zero. In short, for a solution to form and complete dissolution to take place,...

A balanced chemical equation provides the information of chemical formulas of the reactants and products involved in the chemical change. A reaction’s stoichiometry helps predict how much of the reactant is needed to produce the desired amount of product, or in some cases, how much product will be formed from a specific amount of the reactant.
The relative amounts of reactants and products represented in a balanced chemical equation are often referred to as stoichiometric amounts.

Chemical substances interact in many different ways. Certain chemical reactions exhibit common patterns of reactivity. Due to the vast number of chemical reactions, it becomes necessary to classify them based on the observed patterns of interaction.