Bhavya
Last Activity: 8 Years ago
No, a catalyst cannot alter the equilibrium position (or constant) one bit, as it does not change the initial and final states (and thus the thermodynamic properties of them). It only creates a different pathway, with a much faster slow step (usually because the new slow step has a much lower activation energy barrier). This increases both the forward and reverse reaction rates by the same factor such that a system at equilibrium will not “shift” in either direction if a catalyst is added. So since the addition of a catalyst cannot change the thermodynamic tendency for a reaction to occur (net) at all, it certainly cannot make a reaction that is nonspontaneous (i.e., has a tendency to occur in the reverse direction at certain conditions) become spontaneous (i.e., has a tendency to occur in the forward direction at those same conditions). Addition of a catalyst will merely increase the rate at which a system reaches equilibrium—it will not alter the composition of the system once it gets to equilibrium.