Reversible Reactions
Some reactions are easily reversed. In class, we saw that blue hydrated copper sulfate crystals can be turned into anhydrous white copper sulfate crystals, by heating (which removes the crystallised water molecules). By adding a drop or two of water, this is reversed, and releases a lot of heat energy!Equilibrium
When a reversible reaction is contained within a closed system (such as a boiling tube with a rubber/cork bung, or a bottle with a lid on it), the forward and reverse reactions "compete", until the rate of the forward reaction is equal to the rate of reaction of the reverse reaction. The concentrations of the reactants and products do not change, even though both reactions (forward and reverse) are happening. We call this dynamic equilibrium. We will explore this in more detail over the next week.
This video summarises these two concepts well (and is the one we looked at in class on Monday):
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