Chemistry for medical professionals

Chemical equilibrium

In chemical reactions it often happens that the reaction products can react with one another again and thus form the starting materials back. This is expressed by merging the two equations into a single equation with a double arrow.

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \text{A.}+\text{B.}& \to & \text{C.}+\text{D.}\hfill \\ \hfill \text{C.}+\text{D.}& \to & \text{A.}+\text{B.}\hfill \\ \hfill \text{A.}+\text{B.}& \rightleftharpoons & \text{C.}+\text{D.}\hfill \end{array}$$

When the starting materials are combined, the reaction begins. As soon as a small amount of the product has been formed, the reverse reaction can also take place. After some time, the same amounts of substance are converted in the back and forth reaction, and an equilibrium is established. The reactions continue to occur, but the concentrations no longer change. There is a dynamic equilibrium.

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