As I listened to several different podcasts this weekend, I thought of how Kinetics and Equilibrium work together for the creation of new products and how they help our understanding of the world around us. Science Friday covered the creation of a new adhesive bandage as a medical application inside of a patient. This bandage would have to break down at some point (thus the equilibrium), but slowly enough to hold until no longer needed (thus the kinetics).
I also read an article on climate change and how the ocean absorbs much of the excess carbon dioxide produced. You wouldn’t need but a general chemistry course to understand that you can “shift” equilibrium if you push more of one reactant into a system. Small shift or big shift, more carbon dioxide should acidify the ocean. (carbon dioxide and water create carbonic acid) The change may be minor, but it may also affect the organisms that live in this system.
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