Limiting Reactants Chemistry
Think about making a PB&J sandwich… Each sandwich requires: 2 pieces of bread 2 tbs. peanut butter 1 tbs. jelly How many sandwiches can you make with 42 pieces of bread, and 1 cup of peanut butter and 1 cup jelly? ( 1 cup = 16 tbs.)
Each sandwich requires: 2 pieces of bread 2 tbs. peanut butter 1 tbs. jelly With 42 pieces of bread we could make 21 sandwiches With 1 cup (16 Tbs) of PB we could make 8 sandwiches With 1 cup (16tbs) of jelly we could make 16 sandwiches So with the provided ingredients we can only make 8 PB&J sandwiches
The limiting reactant is the reactant that is completely used up in the reaction. It limits the amount of product. Once a reactant is gone, no more product can be made. The other reactant is said to be “in excess”, or it is left over after the reaction is complete
To solve limiting reactant problems: 1. Do a mass-mass for each of the given reactants and the desired product. 2. The limiting reactant is the reactant that makes the smallest amount of product. The other will be in excess. 3. The amount of product made is the smaller of the two answers from the mass-mass problems.
4Al + 3O 2 2Al 2 O 3 What mass of aluminum oxide would be made if 5.00g of aluminum is mixed with 5.00 g of oxygen?
C 3 H 8 + 5O 2 3CO 2 + 4H 2 O What mass of carbon dioxide would be made if g of propane is mixed with g of oxygen? What is the limiting reactant?