13.1 Equilibrium Concept

The concept of chemical equilibrium can be visualized in a ship or boat being kept upright. These are two forces in equilibrium that keep the boat or the ship upright:

1. The gravity force G (due to the weight of the ship or the boat) which pulls the ship or the boat downwards to the bottom of the ocean or the river.
2. The buoyancy force B (due to water up thrust) which pulls the ship or the boat upwards to the surface of the ocean or the river.

When both centers of Bouncy CB and Gravity CG are the same center line of the ship, an equilibrium is reached. This is illustrated in the figure below:

Reference: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Ship_stability.svg

This is a typical equilibrium concept. If the Bouncy force is pulling upward, the Gravity force will pull downwards and vise versa. Both forces are equal and opposite in the direction.

This can be translated to a chemical equilibrium where the rate of the forward reaction producing the products (resembles the Gravity force) is equal the rate of reverse reaction (resembles the Bouncy force). When both rates are not equal the chemical reaction loses its equilibrium similar to the ship that loses its balance and sinks into the water of the ocean or the river.

In this chapter the chemical equilibrium will be discussed in some details.