Le Chatelier's Principle states that if an equilibrium is disturbed, it will shift to oppose the change.

Le Chatelier's Principle states that if an equilibrium is disturbed, it will shift to oppose the change.

• A. If an equilibrium is disturbed, it will shift to oppose the change.
• B. It will always shift toward products.
• C. It will shift to maintain equal concentrations.
• D. It has no effect on the reaction.

Answer: (A)

Le Chatelier's Principle says that a system at equilibrium responds to a disturbance by shifting in a direction that opposes the change. This means the statement that best fits is that if an equilibrium is disturbed, it will shift to oppose the change. The shift can go toward products or toward reactants depending on the type of disturbance—adding more reactant pushes the equilibrium toward products to consume the extra reactant, increasing pressure for a gas reaction with fewer moles on one side favors that side, and changing temperature shifts the balance toward the endothermic or exothermic direction as appropriate. The other ideas aren’t correct because the system does not universally move toward products, nor does it simply aim to keep concentrations equal, and it certainly does respond to disturbances rather than having no effect.

Le Chatelier's Principle says that a system at equilibrium responds to a disturbance by shifting in a direction that opposes the change. This means the statement that best fits is that if an equilibrium is disturbed, it will shift to oppose the change. The shift can go toward products or toward reactants depending on the type of disturbance—adding more reactant pushes the equilibrium toward products to consume the extra reactant, increasing pressure for a gas reaction with fewer moles on one side favors that side, and changing temperature shifts the balance toward the endothermic or exothermic direction as appropriate. The other ideas aren’t correct because the system does not universally move toward products, nor does it simply aim to keep concentrations equal, and it certainly does respond to disturbances rather than having no effect.