Electrochemistry

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yellowjellybean

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Hey guys,

So in the electrochemistry chapter, it says the reaction is spontaneous if Q is less than K. Isn't it also if Q is greater than K because Q just wants to get to K? Or am I getting this confused with stuff from thermodynamics? Thanks.
 
Hey guys,

So in the electrochemistry chapter, it says the reaction is spontaneous if Q is less than K. Isn't it also if Q is greater than K because Q just wants to get to K? Or am I getting this confused with stuff from thermodynamics? Thanks.

I believe that if Q>K, then there are already too many products and it would no longer be spontaneous in the forward direction.
 
Spontaneity from electrochemical perspective is related to sign of delta E. If dE>0, the process is spontaneous. K and Q relation is a chemical equilibrium perspective and is correctly explained in the post above.

From el-chem side of things It depends on sign of dE:
dE = dEnot - (RT/nF)*lnQ
>0 ->spontaneous.
 
Spontaneity from electrochemical perspective is related to sign of delta E. If dE>0, the process is spontaneous. K and Q relation is a chemical equilibrium perspective and is correctly explained in the post above.

From el-chem side of things It depends on sign of dE:
dE = dEnot - (RT/nF)*lnQ
>0 ->spontaneous.

Lol, I totally failed to even address that. Should probably work on not forgetting to considering the first part of a question when answering for MCAT, 😉.
 
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