Analogs to chemical equilibrium

[mir]

When I am helping chemistry students - a problem is always showing up to how to explain an equilibrium. So I am very interested in finding easy-to-understand analogs to this phenomena. So do someone have a suggestion to an such analog?

[ronthepon]

Analogue to dynamic chemical equilibrium:

 

Consider two glasses of water, one full, the other empty.

 

Pour a fifth of water present in the first glass into the second.

 

Now, pour a fifth of the water present in the second, into the first.

 

Again, pour a fifth of the water in the first into the second.

 

Continue cycle, until amount of water in both becomes approximately constant over time.

 

Now, if the water in the first glass is the 'reactant', and the water in the second is the 'product', them you have a dynamic analogue.

[hallenrm]

How about this one! Consider a shopping Mall, with a number of customers and goods in it. The customers go to the racks, look up the different goods and then decide to buy them. Now, consider the customers and the goods as the reactants, and purchased goods in the bags of customers the products, you have a fairly good analogy for chemical equilibrium.

 

Think over it, and let me know your reaction, dear mir.

[ronthepon]

Won't this be just a forward reaction?

[hallenrm]

No! Remember I said customers look up different goods in the racks, if the good is a garment they may try it too, and then decide not to buy it. So each close encounter between the customer and the good does not result in the product!

[ronthepon]

Yes, but as time goes on, the customers keep leaving with the goods, and eventually the goods deplete. As time tends to infinity, reactant concentration tends to zero.

 

In fact, your analogy is excellent when applied to the collision theory of chemical reactions.

[hallenrm]

Remember, I started with a shopping mall, it is like a reaction container (a flask, test tube etc.) which has a limited supply of reactants and ultimately the products. Alternatively if one wants to talk of a flow system, the reactantsand the products continue to flow in and out!

 

:esmoking:

[eric l]

So it is a bit like a square dance : couples (=reaction product molecules) forming, separating and forming again but as other couples. And with a turn of the music (=change in reaction conditions) you have the groups (=reagents) operating separately rather than as couples.

[moo]

How about Earth's hydrologic cycle... :)

 

moo