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Rate versus Equilibrium The Haber process illustrates the crucial difference between kinetics and equilibrium. Equilibrium concerns itself with how much of everything is there when the reaction ends, while kinetics asks "how fast do we get there". In the Haber process, lowering the temperature very much favors production of the desired product, ammonia. But the same strategy that drives the reaction to the ammonia side of the equation, slows it down unacceptably. So a compromise must be reached: lower the temperature, but not to much, and add a catalyst to keep things moving along. Even though kinetics and equilibrium reveal different aspects of a chemical reaction, they are related, and the course concludes with a brief discussion of this relationship.

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