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Can a catalyst change the position of a chemical equilibrium?

Answer 1

Absolutely not.........

A catalyst can never shift the position of equilibrium. It CAN change the rate at which equilibrium is achieved.

The diagram shows the reaction profile of a catalyzed (red trace) versus uncatalyzed reaction (blue trace). The enthalpy change is precisely the same for both sets of reaction. The catalyzed reaction has an energy of activation, #E_a#, that is substantially less than the uncatalyzed reaction, and for this reason the catalyzed reaction should proceed at a faster rate, in that more reactant particles have the requisite activation energy to complete the reaction.

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Answer 2

Natalie Anton

No, a catalyst does not change the position of a chemical equilibrium. It speeds up the rate at which equilibrium is reached, without affecting the equilibrium composition of the reaction mixture.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.