Le Chateliers Principle

Analyses the ways in which models, theories and laws in chemistry have been tested and validated.


Scientific Laws
Scientific laws are statements that describe, predict, and perhaps explain why, a range of phenomena behave as they appear to in nature. Scientific laws can usually be formulated mathematically as one or several statements or equation, so that it can be used to predict the outcome of an experiment, given the initial, boundary, and other physical conditions of the processes which take place. Scientific laws are strongly supported by experimental evidence, they are scientific knowledge that experiments have repeatedly verified.

The Equilibrium law
More commonly known as le chatelier’s principle, the equilibrium law states that; if a chemical system at equilibrium is subjected to a change in conditions, the system will readjust itself to partially counteract that change. Henri Louis Le Chatelier, a French chemist, was best known for proposing the Equilibrium Law, which makes it possible to predict the effect of a change on conditions which will have on a chemical reaction. His principle proved invaluable in the chemical industry for developing the most efficient chemical processes. Many significant industrial processes where able to produce optimum yields due to the principles behind the equilibrium law. The Equilibrium law has been tested and applied in many chemical industries, including the Haber process, and the Contact process.

Henri Louis Le Chatelier
Through Le Chatelier’s studies on cements, he became interested in the applications of thermodynamics to chemistry. It was while working with thermodynamics that he devised what became known as The Equilibrium Law. Using The Equilibrium Law as a guide the efficiency of chemical processes can be improved by shifting a system to yield more of the desired product. By applying the Le Chatelier Principle, he accomplished the synthesis of ammonia in 1901, anticipating Fritz Haber....