In this deck, we'll explore reversible reactions and the concept of chemical equilibrium. You'll learn how chemists can manipulate reactions to get more of the products they want. We will cover dynamic equilibrium and a very important rule called Le Chatelier's principle, which helps predict how reactions respond to change.

Most chemical reactions you've met so far go in one direction, from reactants to products. However, some reactions are reversible, meaning they can go in both the forward and reverse directions at the same time. Instead of a normal arrow, we use a special symbol with two half-arrows pointing in opposite directions to show this.

Imagine a reversible reaction taking place in a sealed container, which we call a closed system. At the start, the forward reaction is fast, and the reverse reaction is slow. As products are made, the reverse reaction speeds up, and as reactants are used up, the forward reaction slows down. Eventually, a point is reached where the rate of the forward reaction is exactly equal to the rate of the reverse reaction. This is called dynamic equilibrium.