ICE Table
A systematic tabulation of Initial, Change and Equilibrium amounts used to solve equilibrium problems.
Unit
mol/L
In depth
Initial concentrations are entered first, changes are expressed as multiples of a single unknown x scaled by the stoichiometric coefficients, and the equilibrium row is substituted into the K expression. Where K is very small, the approximation that x is negligible often avoids solving a quadratic.
Examples in the real world
Setting up an ICE table for the dissociation of 0.100 M HA with Ka = 1.8 × 10⁻⁵ to find the pH.