Question

What is a RICE table?
(A) It is a way of keeping track of the data generated in an equilibrium reaction.
(B) It is a mathematical table showing relationships among reactants.
(C) It is a table that holds data from a chemical reaction.
(D) It is a way of keeping track of the concentrations of the reaction.
(E) It is a mathematical table showing relationships among products.

Answer 1

Hint: The word ‘RICE’ is actually an abbreviation and its full form indicates its use in physical chemistry calculations. The most important data associated with a chemical equilibrium in nothing but the concentrations that rapidly change with time.

Complete answer:
An equilibrium point in a chemical reaction is said to be achieved only when certain specific conditions are fulfilled. The conditions include the chemical reaction to be reversible in nature and at the equilibrium point the rate of forward reaction (conversion of reactants into products) must become equal to the rate of the backward or reverse reaction (conversion of products into reactants).
The concentrations at the equilibrium point need not be the same for the reactants and product but must attain a constant value. Therefore the most important parameter to measure the rapid changes associated with a dynamic equilibrium reaction is the change in concentration with time.
Thus, RICE can be understood as:
R: reaction
I: initial concentration
C: change in concentration
E: equilibrium concentration.
It is basically a tabular form to keep a track of changing concentrations so as to have a knowledge of the concentrations available at the equilibrium point.
Hence, the correct option is (D) It is a way of keeping track of the concentrations of the reaction.

Note:
The impact of changing concentrations is observed in the chemical kinetics data, calculation of solubility products, equilibrium constants and understanding phenomena like Le Chatelier’s principle and common ion effect.