Question

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A powerful witch was working a complicated spell and was having difficulty in getting it to work. The spell required adding specific spell components in the correct ratios to her cauldron and speaking the mystical phrase, “esaelp, erom stniop evif”. The potion required enough newt kidneys that it maintained the hypochlorite ion (ClO^-) concentration at 1 x 10^-6 M. Newt kidneys average about 0.115 milligrams of KClO. The spell was complicated by the fact that the recipe also required an influx of bog gas, keeping the pH of the potion at 9.2. Since the hypochlorite ion is the conjugate of a weak acid, the smart witch knew that the hydrolysis of hypochlorite to form hypochlorous acid (K_a = 3.5 x 10^-8) would possibly affect the number of kidneys she needed to add. In addition, the rate with which she added each component was essential, and there was the potential that a reaction which was the reverse to the one desired could occur. When the reverse reaction proceeded at a faster rate than the forward reaction, the mystical phrase to repeat was the mirror image to the original phase. To complicate matters even more, the total energy of the universe had to remain constant, and any return in magical energies from the potion required an input of energy from the fires heating the cauldron. There was no gasses evolved in the creation of the spell, and the spell consumed a dozen (12) logs of wood weighing 150 kg, and the combustion of each log generated 12.5 kJ of energy.

The witch, after many failed attempts, realized the reverse rate of reaction was faster than that of the forward reaction. What was the phrase the witch needed to say? Show work!

Answer 1

The the mystical phrase for faster forward reaction: “esaelp, erom stniop evif”

When the reverse reaction proceeded at a faster rate than the forward reaction, the mystical phrase to repeat was the mirror image to the original phase.

Mirror image of 'evif' = 'five'

Mirror image of 'stniop' = 'points'

Mirror image of 'erom' = 'more'

Mirror image of 'esaelp' = 'please'.

The reverse rate of reaction was faster than that of the forward reaction.

Hence, the phrase the witch needed to say : "five points more, please".