Those two reactions are not at equilibrium. If they were, the first reaction would not contribute to increasing the concentration of C, and the second reaction would not contribute to decreasing the concentration of C.
It is possible that some folks define steady-state such that equilibrium is a special case of steady state. Certainly, if the source equals the sink, the system will attain equilibrium eventually. Isaac Lai Isaac Lai 67 2 2 bronze badges.
Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Linked Related 6. In contrast, steady state is when the state variables are constant over time while there is a flow through the system Wikipedia.
The state variables parameters that depend on the current state of a system, not on how the system got to that state. Thermal equilibrium is reached when two objects in contact with each other reach the same temperature, and are therefor not exchanging heat Wikipedia. For example, if a gallon of milk is taken out of a cold fridge and placed on the counter, the counter and the milk are at thermal equilibrium when they reach the same temperature.
An example of steady state can be found a bathtub with the drain open and water being added. The main difference between equilibrium and steady state is that equilibrium is a state in which the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the backward reaction whereas steady state is the stage of a chemical reaction that has a constant concentration of an intermediate. Equilibrium is a state in which the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the backward reaction. Although some chemical reactions reach completion, some other reactions do not completely occur.
For example, weak acids and weak bases in aqueous solutions partially dissociate into ions. Then, we can observe there are ions as well as molecules in that solution. Thus, it can be said that there is an equilibrium between molecules and ions ex: acid and its conjugated base. This happens because the rate of the dissociation of the acid or base is equal to the rate of the formation of acid or base from its ions.
When a reaction mixture is in equilibrium, there is no net change in concentrations of reactants and products. Let us consider an example in order to understand this concept. Figure 1: The equilibrium between acetic acid and its conjugated base. The above image shows equilibrium between acetic acid and its conjugated base. Here, the forward reaction is the dissociation of the acetic acid molecule whereas the backward reaction is the formation of acetic acid molecules.
In a reversible reaction, when reactants are transformed into products, we call it forward reaction. When products are transformed into reactants, we call it a backward reaction. When the rate of forward and backward reactions is equal, then the reaction is at equilibrium. Therefore, the amount of reactants and products do not change over a period of time. Reversible reactions always tend to come to equilibrium and maintain that equilibrium.
When the system is at equilibrium, the amount of products and the reactants do not have to be necessarily equal. There can be a higher amount of reactants than products or vice versa. The only requirement in an equilibrium equation is maintaining a constant amount from both over time. For a reaction in equilibrium, we can define an equilibrium constant, which is equal to the ratio between the concentration of products and concentration of reactions.
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