Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-1/4/a/vii/solution

The exponential function makes modest Gibbs free energy differences correspond to extreme equilibrium ratios. At 298 K, ; for example,
The minor equilibrium component may therefore lie below detection, or a species' required thermodynamic activity may be experimentally inaccessible. Apparently complete conversion supplies a bound on , rather than an accurate finite value. Additionally, some reactions do not reach chemical equilibrium within a practicable observation time because of kinetic barriers. The thermodynamic identity still holds even when direct room-temperature determination of both sides of the equilibrium ratio fails.

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