Question

What do the letters I C and E stand for in a RICE table?
A. Initial, Change, Equilibrium
B. Initial, Concentration, Equilibrium
C. Instant, Change, Equilibrium
D. Instant, Concentration, Equilibrium
E. Initial, Change, Exact amounts

Answer 1

There is a way to organize given information and variables for equilibrium calculations. It is used in the chemical equilibrium. If we have the value of equilibrium constant, then we can use the RICE table to figure it out. This table also helps to find the concentration of reactants or products.

Complete step by step solution:
RICE table stands for Reaction, Initial, Change, Equilibrium.
Consider a reaction given below:
${\text{aA}} \rightleftharpoons {\text{bB}} + {\text{cC}}$, where ${\text{a,b,c}}$ are the stoichiometric coefficients.
The steps for setting up the RICE table are:
RICE table is drawn with respect to the chemical equation
Initial concentration is inserted if it’s been given.
Assume that ${\text{x}}$ is the common change in concentration. So the concentration of ${\text{A}}$ changes to ${\text{ax}}$, ${\text{B}}$ changes to ${\text{bx}}$ and ${\text{C}}$ changes to ${\text{cx}}$. Since the concentration of ${\text{A}}$ is decreasing, it becomes ${\text{ - ax}}$.
$\left[ {\text{A}} \right]$ decrease from $1$ to $1 - {\text{ax}}$ since $\left[ {\text{A}} \right]$ is consumed to ${\text{B}}$ and ${\text{C}}$. By this time, $\left[ {\text{B}} \right]$ and $\left[ {\text{C}} \right]$ increase from $0 + {\text{bx}}$ and $0 + {\text{cx}}$ respectively. This will be the equilibrium concentration. Moreover, the change should agree with the law of mass action.
Substituting these values in the formula of equilibrium concentration, we can find ${\text{x}}$, given any of the concentrations and thereby calculate equilibrium concentration.
Now we can say that I, C, E stands for Initial, Concentration, Equilibrium.

Hence the correct option is B.

Note: We can fill the ICE table with what is known about the initial conditions, the direction the reaction will proceed and the conditions at equilibrium. RICE table makes problem solving easier. For initial concentration, reactant initial concentration is given as $1$ and that of products are $0$ as the reactant has not started to decompose.