equilibrium in esterfication

[little boy]

How is V1-V2 (stage 3, point 6) used in calculation? Why is it needed to know?

 

clear image

 

Edited August 30, 2011 by little boy

[spin-1/2-nuclei]

Hello,

 

The equation for the equilibrium constant is given in stage 6. That is what you need to answer your question. From looking at that you can see that you will need to know the concentrations of both the reactants and the products. Now, the concentration of the reactants is easy to know, but how will you determine the concentration of the products?

 

Since this is homework I will give you some hints.

 

Hint # 1: A titre describes the mass of one compound that reacts with 1mol of your solution.

 

Hint # 2: The mechanism of the above mentioned reaction: (I debated spelling this out, but I think it is best if you try it first yourself - so please try it and then if you get stuck or need me to check it I will)

 

Hint # 3: Sulfuric acid is used as both a dehydrating agent & catalyst in the esterification. Since the esterification reaction is reversible the only way to drive the reaction forward is to remove water.

 

Hope this was helpful...

Cheers

Edited August 31, 2011 by spin-1/2-nuclei