LIMITING AND EXCESS REAGENTS

Let’s pretend that you want to make some sodium chloride. You obtain 3 moles of Na and 1 mole of Cl2 and all
the specialized equipment you need…and you are able to create the conditions necessary for the reaction to
occur. First you write down the balanced chemical equation:

2Na + Cl2 → 2NaCl

According to the equation every 2 moles of sodium will react with 1 mole of chlorine to form 2 moles of sodium
chloride.

Let’s say you want all the sodium that you have (3 moles) to react. If all 3 moles of Na were to react, you would
need 1.5 moles of chlorine (mole ratio of Na to Cl2 is 2:1). But you do not have 1.5 moles of chlorine! You do
not have enough to react with all the sodium. The chlorine is the limiting reagent.

All the chlorine you have will react, but not all the sodium will react, some will be left over. Sodium is the
excess reagent.

The amount of NaCl produced depends on the limiting reagent, since all the limiting reagent is used up. In this
case you will produce 2 moles of NaCl because 1 mole of Cl2 reacted with 2 moles of Na. 1 mole out of the 3
moles available of Na did not react.

Definitions:

Limiting Reagent: reactant that is completely used up in a reaction.

Excess Reagent: reactant that is not completely used up in a reaction (some is left over).
Example 1:

a. Find the limiting and excess reagent when 0.5moles of Zn react with 0.4moles of HCl.
b. How many moles of the excess reagent are left over after the reaction?
c. How many moles H2 are produced?

Answer:

First write the chemical equation: Zn + 2HCl → ZnCl2 + H2

Given: 0.5 moles of Zn

0.4 moles of HCl

Part (a):

Let’s start with Zn. If all 0.5 moles of Zn were to react how much HCl would we need?

Moles of Zn Moles of HCl

Mole Ratio (given in equation) 1 2
What we have/need 0.5 x

Clearly x = 1 mole (1:2 ratio). So we would need 1 mole of HCl, but we only have 0.4 moles. Therefore HCl is the
limiting reagent.

If one reactant is the limiting reagent, the other must be the excess reagent. So Zn is the excess reagent.

Part (b):

We know that all the HCl reacts…so if all the HCl reacts, how much Zn is used?

Moles of Zn Moles of HCl

Mole Ratio (given in equation) 1 2
What we have/need x 0.4

Now x = 0.2 moles (1:2 ratio). So 0.2 moles of Zn react. We had 0.5 moles available.

Left over = available – used

Left over = 0.5 – 0.2

Left over = 0.3 moles

Part (c):

To determine the amount of product produced, use the limiting reagent (to avoid errors).

If 0.4 moles of HCl were used, how many moles of H2 were produced?

Moles of HCl Moles of H2

Mole Ratio (given in equation) 2 1
What we have/need 0.4 x

x = 0.2 moles (2:1 mole ratio). So 0.2 moles of H2 were produced.

Example 2:

How much NH4Cl is produced in grams when 1.00g of NH3 is mixed with 1.00g of HCl?

Answer:

First write the chemical equation: NH3 + HCl → NH4Cl

Given: 1.00g of NH3

1.00g of HCl

STEP 1:

The values are given in grams so we need to change them to moles.

m m
n= n=
M M
mNH3 mHCl
nNH3 = nHCl =
M NH3 M HCl
1.00
nNH3 =
1.00 nHCl =
17.04 36.46
nNH3 = 0.0587mol. nHCl = 0.0274mol.

STEP 2:

Because you are given an amount for both reactants, you have to figure out which one is limiting.

This time let’s start with HCl (it doesn’t matter which reactant you start with). If all the 0.0274 moles of HCl
react, how many moles of NH3 would we need?

Moles of HCl Moles of NH3

Mole Ratio (given in equation) 1 1
What we have/need 0.0274 x

x = 0.0274 moles of NH3 (1:1 ratio). We have 0.0587 moles of NH3…more than enough! Therefore NH3 is the
excess reagent (ER) and HCl is the limiting reagent (LR).

STEP 3:

Now we need to determine how much NH4Cl is produced. We use HCl in our calculation because HCl is the LR.

Moles of HCl Moles of NH4Cl

Mole Ratio (given in equation) 1 1
What we have/need 0.0274 x

x = 0.0274 moles of NH4Cl (1:1 ratio). Now we need to find the mass of NH4Cl.

m = nM
m = 0.0274  53.5
m = 1.47 g
Do this yourself:

How many grams of the ER are left over? [Answer: 0.533g]

PERCENTAGE YIELD
In real life the majority of chemical reactions do not produce the exact amount of product predicted by the
balanced chemical reaction. The amount obtained is always less than that predicted.

Theoretical yield is the amount of product that should be produced from a known mass of reactant in a
chemical reaction, according to the balanced chemical equation.

Actual yield is the actual mass of product formed in a chemical reaction.

An extension to the last question:

When the reaction in example 2 was performed in a lab, it was found that 1.03g of NH4Cl were formed. What is
the percentage yield of NH4Cl?

actual. yield
% yield =  100
theoretical. yield

The actual yield is what was actually formed. The theoretical yield is what you stoichiometrically calculated.

1.03
% yield =  100
1.47
% yield = 70.1%

Watch these:

https://youtu.be/rESzyhPOJ7I

https://youtu.be/YNriRslOk9A

https://youtu.be/ICDj0a9kaUo

https://youtu.be/TKDOyR7WKQQ

These are on % yield:

https://youtu.be/AiryejaMYSU

https://youtu.be/hnawBsyZTc8