Topics in Physical Chemistry - Essay Example

The understanding of chemical equilibrium has also advanced by different research studies thereby bringing new knowledge. Through exploration of different studies on the topic, this paper presents a current study from peer-reviewed journals and how research advances the studies in chemical equilibrium and its application. The use of computer simulations in the study of simple and long-chain chemical reactions has also been explored. Finally, the paper explores the law of thermodynamics and how it applies to chemical equilibrium.

Introduction Chemical reactions involve reactants and interacting under certain conditions to produce a product. It refers to the process of transforming a set of chemical compounds or substances to another or others with totally different identities. It involves the changes of the position of electrons with regards to the formation or breaking of the bonds while the original elements always remain the same. Since there is no change in the original elements present, a chemical reaction can always be represented by an equation.

Reagents or reactants are the initial substances that participate in a chemical reaction thus during a chemical reaction, there is always a chance. This is because the new products exhibit different properties. New products may have differences concerning physical, biological, or chemical properties depending on the nature of the chemical reaction. The chemical reaction equation must have the starting materials (reactants), conditions for reaction, intermediate products, and finally the end products.

However, certain chemical reactions are very simple and do not need to pass through the intermediate product to get to the final product. In a chemical equation, we may have two different types of chemical reactions as well. The chemical reaction that takes place according to concentration and temperature at a specific rate is called nonspontaneous while one that requires no other conditions except thermal energy is known as spontaneous.