Nitrogen dioxide gas is used to demonstrate Le Chatelier’s principle of equilibrium. The gaseous equilibrium is a mixture of nitrogen dioxide a brown to reddish brown gas and dinitrogen tetroxide a colourless gas.
The preparation and handling of nitrogen dioxide should only be conducted in an operating fume cupboard by trained staff wearing appropriate PPE.
These laboratory notes provide a method for the generation and collection of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas for two equilibrium demonstrations: the effect of temperature and the effect of pressure.
