Le Chatelier’s Principle: How Reactions Balance Themselves

Le Chatelier’s Principle says if you disturb a system at equilibrium, it shifts to reduce the disturbance.
Adding more reactants pushes the reaction toward making more products.
Removing products has the same effect—equilibrium shifts to replace what’s missing.
Increasing pressure favors the side of a reaction with fewer gas molecules.
Decreasing pressure favors the side with more gas molecules.
Raising temperature drives the reaction in the direction that absorbs heat.
Lowering temperature favors the direction that releases heat.
It’s like a chemical tug-of-war—whichever side you “pull,” the system pushes back.
This principle helps chemists maximize yields in processes like ammonia production.
Everyday example: opening a soda bottle reduces pressure, shifting equilibrium so bubbles rush out.