UNIVERSITY OF BAHRAIN

COLLAGE OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMSTRY

Experiment #2

Limiting reactant
Fatema Saleem
Fsmohammed@uob.edu.bh
Aim
To determine the limiting reagent and percentage yield of a
chemical reaction.
Stoichiometry

Stoichiometry is the numerical relationship between the moles of

reactants and the moles of products for a chemical reaction.

Stoichiometry helps us determine How

much substance is needed or is present
Stoichiometry is an important concept that uses the balanced chemical equations
to calculate amounts of reactants and products.

Here, we make use of ratios from the balanced equation.

e.g.
Moles of reactant : Moles of product
2 mol of H2 : 2 mol of H2O
1 mol of O2 : 2 mol of H2O
 In a chemical reaction, reactants could be either …

Limiting reactant the reactant that is consumed first during the reaction.

Excess reactant The reactant which left over at the end of the reaction
 In this scenario for making hot dog sandwiches
We run out of Buns before we use up all the Hot dogs, so the limiting reagent is the Bun.

When the limiting reactant is consumed, the reaction stops.

 A LIMITING REAGENT in any chemical reaction is the one that

1. Consumes first

Theoretical yield
2. Stops the reaction
3. Limits the amount of the
product that is formed Limiting
reactant

Excess
 Determination of the Limiting Reagent:

1. Balance the chemical equation for the chemical reaction.

2. Find out the moles of each reactant present.
3. Calculate the moles of the product formed from each mole of reactant.
4. Identify the reactant giving the smaller number of moles of product (Limiting Reagent).
5. Calculate the grams of product produced by the Limiting Reagent (the theoretical yield).
E.g.
General example of how to determine the limiting reagent and calculating the theoretical mass.

1. How many grams of NH3 can be produced (theoretically) from the

reaction of 5.0g of N and 5.0g of H?
2. What is the limiting reagent?
3. If 5.02 g are actually formed, what is the percent yield of NH3 ?
How many grams of NH3 can be produced (theoretically) from the reaction of 5.00g of N and 5.00g
of H? What is the limiting reagent? If 5.02 g is actually formed, what is the percent yield of NH3?

STEP1: Balance the chemical equation of the chemical reaction

3𝐻2 𝑔 + 𝑁2 (𝑔) → 2𝑁𝐻3 (𝑔)

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠
STEP2: Find out the moles of each reactant present (𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑒 = )
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠

For H2: For N2:

MM= 2×1.008= 2.016 g/mol MM= 2×14.007= 28.014 g/mol

5.0 𝑔 5.00 𝑔
𝑛= = 2.5 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑛= = 0.178 𝑚𝑜𝑙
2.016 𝑔/𝑚𝑜𝑙 28.014 𝑔/𝑚𝑜𝑙
How many grams of NH3 can be produced (theoretically) from the reaction of 5.0g of N and 5.0g of
H? What is the limiting reagent? If 5.02 g are actually formed, what is the percent yield of NH3?

STEP3: Calculate the moles of the product formed from each reactant

3𝐻2 𝑔 + 𝑁2 (𝑔) → 2𝑁𝐻3 (𝑔)

Moles of NH3 from H2: Moles of NH3 from N2:

3.0 moles of H2 : 2.0 moles of NH3 1.0 moles of N2 : 2.0 moles of NH3
2.5 moles of H2 : ?? Moles of NH3 0.178 moles of N2 : ?? Moles of NH3

0.178×2.0
2.5 × 2.0 𝑛= = 0.356 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝑯𝟑
𝑛= = 1.67 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝑯𝟑 1.0
3.0

Which one gives the smallest number of product? N2, so it is the limiting reactant
How many grams of NH3 can be produced (theoretically) from the reaction of 5.0g of N and 5.0g of
H? What is the limiting reagent? If 5.02 g are actually formed, what is the percent yield of NH3?

STEP4: Calculate the grams of product produced by the Limiting Reagent

(the theoretical yield) (𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 = 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 × 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠)

We will use the moles comes from the limiting reagent to calculate the theoretical mass

Theoretical yield of NH3:

N2 is the limiting reactant because it gives the smallest number of moles of the product

Molar Mass of NH3 = (14.007+(3×1.008)) = 17.031 g/mol

Mass of the product (NH3) = 0.356 mol × 17.031 g/mol = 6.06 g
How many grams of NH3 can be produced (theoretically) from the reaction of 5.0g of N and 5.0g of
H? What is the limiting reagent? If 5.02 g are actually formed, what is the percent yield of NH3?

Determination of the Percentage yield:

1. Find the theoretical yield (the calculated in grams of the product produced by the
Limiting Reagent)
2. Find the actual yield (the amount of the product actually formed in the laboratory)
3. Percent yield is the percent of the product formed based upon the theoretical yield.

𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 % = × 100
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑

5.02
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 % = × 100 = 82.8%
6.06
In this Experiment..

The purpose is to…

1. Identify the limiting reagent for the reaction by determining the

smaller amount of moles.
2. Calculating the theoretical yield depending on the limiting reagent.
3. Calculate the percentage yield by comparing your experimental
mass with the theoretical mass for this reaction.
 Procedure
1. Fold a dry filter paper as shown then weigh it out.
 Procedure
2. Prepare two solutions:

Preparing Na2CO3 Solution Preparing Ca(NO3).4H2O Solution

1. Weigh accurately 0.50 g Na2CO3 in a 1. Weigh accurately 1.5g Ca(NO3)2.4H2O
clean, dry 100ml beaker. in a clean ,dry 100ml beaker.

2. Add exactly 10.00ml of distilled water 2. Add exactly 10.00ml of distilled water
using a graduated cylinder and stir the using a graduated cylinder and stir the
mixture till the solid dissolves. mixture till the solid dissolves.

𝐶𝑎(𝑁𝑂3 )2 𝑎𝑞 + 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3 𝑎𝑞 → Ca𝐶𝑂3 𝑠 ↓ + 2𝑁𝑎𝑁𝑂3 (𝑎𝑞)

White ppt
 Procedure
3. Pour the solution from one beaker into the other along a stirring rod and
stir the mixture.
4. Leave the precipitate to settle down.
5. After complete mixing, set up a filter paper and funnel. Place the filter
paper in the funnel and wet the sides with distilled water.
6. Filter the solid on the labeled filter paper.
7. Rinse the reaction beaker with distilled water several times.
8. Transfer the filtered solid to a watch glass and place it in the oven to dry.
9. Dry the filter paper in the oven and reweigh it again.
 1 2 3 4 5

Weigh Pour the solution

Weigh accurately Add exactly 10.00ml of distilled water using
accurately 1.5g from one beaker
0.50 g Na2CO3 in a graduated cylinder to each beaker and stir
Ca(NO3)2.4H2O into the other along
a clean, dry the mixture till the solid dissolves.
in a clean, dry a stirring rod and
100ml beaker.
100ml beaker. stir the mixture.
 6 7 8 9 10

Set up a filter Filter the solid Dry the filter paper

paper and funnel, on the labeled Transfer the filtered solid to a watch glass in the oven and
place the filter filter paper. and place it in the oven to dry. reweigh it again.
paper in the funnel
and wet the sides
with distilled water.
Data Example

Mass of Na2CO3 0.500g

Mass Ca(NO3)2.4H2O 1.500g

Mass of filter empty paper 1.1852g

Mass of filter paper with dry sample 1.5426g

Calculation
STEP1: Calculate the mole of each reactant

𝐶𝑎(𝑁𝑂3 )2 𝑎𝑞 + 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3 𝑎𝑞 → Ca𝐶𝑂3 𝑠 ↓ + 2𝑁𝑎𝑁𝑂3 (𝑎𝑞)

1.5XXg 0.5XXXg
Calculating moles of Ca(NO3)2 Calculating moles of Na2CO3
MM of Ca(NO3)2.4H2O = 236.1489 g/mol MM of Na2CO3= 105.98 g/mol

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 1.5 𝑔 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 0.5

𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑒 = = 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑒 = =
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 236.1489 𝑔/𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 105.98

6.352 × 10 −3
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑎(𝑁𝑂3 )2 4.718 × 10−3 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3
Calculation
STEP2: Calculate the moles of the product from each reactant

𝐶𝑎(𝑁𝑂3 )2 𝑎𝑞 + 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3 𝑎𝑞 → Ca𝐶𝑂3 𝑠 ↓ + 2𝑁𝑎𝑁𝑂3 (𝑎𝑞)

Moles of CaCO3 from Ca(NO3)2 Moles of CaCO3 from Na2CO3

1 mol of Ca(NO3)2 : 1 mol of CaCO3 1 mol of Na2CO3 : 1 mol of CaCO3

-3
6.352×10-3 mol of Ca(NO3)2 : ?? mol of CaCO3 4.718×10 mol of Ca(NO3)2 : ?? mole of CaCO3

6.352×10−3×1 4.718×10−3×1
= 6.352×10−3 mol of CaCO3 = 4.718×10-3 mol of CaCO3
1 1

Larger number of moles = Excess Smaller number of moles = Limiting

Calculation
STEP3: Calculate the theoretical yield

As Na2NO3 is the limiting, the number of moles used is 0.004732

MM of CaCO3 = (40.078+12.01+(3×15.999)=100.085 g/mol
Mass = moles × Molar Mass
Theoretical Mass = 4.718×10-3 mol × 100.085 g/mol = 0.4722g

STEP4: Calculate the actual (experimental) yield

mass of filter paper with dry solid – mass of empty filter paper
Ans 11 – Ans 10 = 1.5426 – 1.1852 = 0.3574 g
Calculation

STEP3: Calculate the percentage yield

𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 % = × 100
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑

0.3574
× 100 = 75.69%
0.4722
Conclusion
1. Limiting reagent is the one that is consumed first, stops the reaction,
and determines the amount of the product.
2. To consider the limiting reagent, both moles of reactants should be
calculated.
3. Calculate the moles of products that formed from each reactant and
the one that gives the smaller number of moles of the product is the
limiting.
4. The theoretical mass of the product could be calculated using the
moles results from the limiting reactant moles NOT the excess.
5. A comparison between the experimental mass and theoretical mass is
needed to get the percentage yield.
Assignment (should be enclosed in your report)
How many grams of CO2 can be produced (theoretically) from the reaction
of 44.2g of CaCO3 and 34.8g of HCl? What is the limiting reagent? If 18.2 g
is actually formed, what is the percent yield of CO2?

CaCO3(s) + 2HCl(aq) → CaCl2(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)

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