9.5 Free Energy and Equilibrium

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Free Energy and Equilibrium

If a reaction is thermodynamically favored, that means that the reaction favors the products since it will occur in the direction of the products naturally. If we recall the equilibrium constant from Unit 7, a reaction will favor the products if the equilibrium constant is greater than one, meaning that ${\Delta G°<0}$ and ${K>1}$ both indicate a reaction being thermodynamically favored. This can be related through the “rat link” equation below.

\Delta G°=-RTln(K)

For this reaction,

{\Delta G°}

is the standard Gibbs free energy change for the reaction,

{R}

is the ideal gas constant, equal to

{8.314 \frac{J}{molK}}

{T}

is the temperature that the reaction takes place, and

{K}

is the equilibrium constant for the reaction.

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