I am doing a lab on the determination of the equilibrium constant for the formation of Fe(SCN)+2. We used a spectrometer to measure the absorption of solutions with a varying initial concentration of Fe+3, but constant concentrations of SCN-. The reaction equation of Fe+3 + SCN- —> Fe(SCN)+2. Along with the SCN- and Fe+3 stock solutions, we also combined them with .3 M HNO3. We then calculated an average molar absorptivity and the equilibrium concentration of Fe(SCN)+2. From that concentration we could find the equilibrium concentrations of the reactants, and then finally the equilibrium constant of the reaction by plugging in the concentrations into the Kc equation. I ended up calculating a Kc value of 774.41. My molar absorptivity was 2120.14. Do these numbers seems reasonable for the reaction?
I also need to know:
1) Why is the reaction done in .3 M HNO3?
2) Why is there an excess of Fe+3 over SCN- in all of the solutions?
3) What results can be expected?