A reaction is said to be reversible if it goes in the forward direction, A + B forming AB, and also in the reverse one, AB dissociates into A + B. When the rate of both forward and reverse reactions is the same, the reaction reaches a dynamic equilibrium and concentrations of all species remain constant.

This equilibrium can be reached starting from A and B, but also starting from AB. The situation at the time of equilibrium is given by the constant K whose value only depends on the temperature. For a reaction such as: aA + bB ⇄ AaBb the equilibrium constant will be: