Exothermic reaction moves forward with increase in Temp?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the syngas reaction CH4 + 0.5O2 → 2H2 + CO, which is classified as an exothermic reaction. Despite the common understanding that increasing temperature typically drives exothermic reactions backward, the equilibrium calculation indicates that this reaction can proceed to completion at high temperatures. The key factor is the higher number of moles of products (3 moles) compared to reactants (2 moles), suggesting that entropy plays a significant role in this behavior.

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leumas614
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I did an equilibrium calculation with some chem software that I have and it told me that a syngas reaction

CH4+0.5O2\rightarrow 2H_{2}+CO

which is an exothermic reaction will proceed to completion at high temperature. If you increase temperature, that should drive the reaction backwards not forwards. I think it has something to do with the fact that there are more moles of products than reactants. Does it have something to do with entropy?

Thanks
 
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Just because reaction is exothermic doesn't mean its equilibrium can't lie far to the right, even in high temperatures. Shift to the left can be very small.

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