Discussion on the Calculation of Apparent Dissociation Constant in Problem 4-9 of the 54th International Chemistry Olympiad

Abstract

Chemical equilibrium contains information on the extent of reaction, which is an important part of physical chemistry. In the context of the solvation of lithium polysulfide in lithium-sulfur batteries, Q4-9 of the 54th International Chemical Olympiad (IChO) examined students' understanding and calculation of the apparent equilibrium constant of the reaction in the equilibrium system of multi conformational compounds. This article will discuss how to apply the weighted average of the free energy of the two conformations of lithium polysulfide to calculate the apparent equilibrium constant from the perspective of thermodynamics and statistical physics.