A principle developed in the late
nineteenth century by
Henri Louis Le Chatelier. It has to do with changes in a reaction at
equilibrium. It states:
If something is done to disturb a system at equilibrium, the system responds in a way that undoes partially what has just been done.
To disturb a system, you can change either the temperature, the pressure, or the amount of products or reactants.
The system reacts by temporarily favoring one side of the equation; either favoring the creation of more products, or the creation of more reactants.