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Le Chatelier's Principle

Chatelier's Principle · The Equilibrium Law

The principle that when a system in equilibrium is disturbed, the system will adjust itself in such a way that the effect of the change will be reduced or moderated.

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Origin

Formulated by French chemist Henry Louis Le Chatelier (1850–1936), who presented his findings on chemical equilibrium to the Académie des sciences in Paris in 1884. A graduate of the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines, Le Chatelier drew on thermodynamic reasoning. The principle was independently formulated by German physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun around the same period.

Updated September 4, 2018