If ?G o is positive (it should be), why does some of the borax still dissolve at

Question

If ?Go is positive (it should be), why does some of the borax still dissolve at room temperature? (Hint: what is the difference between ?G and ?Go?)

Any help would be appreciated. I would like to understand the concept rather than be fed an answer as well please.

We did a lab for the dissolution of Borax. The dissolution is endothermic and the Ksp increased with temperature. Delta G^0 was positive at all temperatures, though as temperature increased, Delta G^0 decreased. If ?Go is positive (it should be), why does some of the borax still dissolve at room temperature? (Hint: what is the difference between ?G and ?Go?)

Explanation / Answer

DeltaG0 = - RT ln K

If DeltaG0 is positive, K will be less than one, but if it is not too large a positive number compare it with RT, then K can still be large enough for us to say that the reaction does go to some noticeable extent.

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