CHM1 Q1 0904 FD
CHM1 Q1 0904 FD
Learning Objectives 2
Warm Up 2
Bibliography 23
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Lesson 9.4
Introduction
You have finally uncovered how chemists predict the maximum amount of products a
particular reaction can produce. Using stoichiometry as your primary tool, you can
determine how much of the products are expected. In a chemical reaction, however, it is
important to determine the limiting reactant to know which of the substances will run out
first. Identifying the limiting reactant allows you to calculate how much product is
expected, and how much of the excess reactant will be consumed and left in the reaction.
This lesson explores the different concepts and the approach needed in determining
theoretical yield based on the limiting reactant in a chemical reaction.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 1
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
excess reactants.
● Determine the theoretical yield using
the concept of limiting and excess
reactants.
● Calculate how much excess reactant
will be left in the reaction.
Warm Up
Assemble It! 15 minutes
Chemical reagents are comparable to the ingredients you use to cook in your homes.
Similarly, they follow a specific recipe that is based on how much of the available ingredients
are needed. The more ingredients you have, the more meals you can prepare.
For this activity, imagine being an Oreo analyst based in a local factory in your area.
Unfortunately, there was a glitch in the packaging system, so you have to do it manually,
starting from the sandwich assembly until its packaging. Your prior knowledge knew that a
sandwich of Oreo consists of two (2) chocolate cookies and a single vanilla filling and
packaged in three’s (3); thus, it was not that of a big task for you. This activity will
demonstrate how the products of chemical reactions are dependent on the amount of
“ingredients” or reagents available to arrive at your desired quantity.
Materials
● calculator
● worksheet material provided by the facilitator
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 2
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Procedure
1. In groups of three (3), read the instructions carefully, and refer to the worksheet
provided.
2. In the first scenario, you have to assemble the sandwiches by exhausting all of the
cookies and fillings available: 400 chocolate cookies and 100 vanilla fillings.
3. For the second scenario, the second batch of fillings just arrived for you to exhaust
all the remaining cookies in your storage.
4. Finally, for the third scenario, you have to put three (3) cookie sandwiches in a limited
number of foil wrappers before delivering all of them to your local courier.
5. Answer everything in the worksheet and submit to your facilitator. He or she will act
as the factory manager to check if you have correctly completed the audit.
Data Table
Table 9.4.1. The first two scenarios determine the total number of sandwiches assembled
1
400 100
2
Table 9.4.2. The last scenario showing the total number of packaged Oreos
3 65
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 3
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Guide Questions
1. Based on your worksheet, were there any sandwiches that were not included in the
packaging due to the lack of foil wrappers? If so, what does this tell you assuming
that this is a hypothetical chemical reaction?
2. In the first two scenarios, how were you able to assemble all of the ingredients
without having any of the ingredients being unused?
3. How will you relate this to the concept of limiting reactants, knowing that some of
the reagents are expensive just to arrive at a particular amount of product?
Fig. 9.4.1. Making a piece of sandwich is a great analogy in learning the concept of limiting
reactants. The ingredients represent the reactants of the reaction and the sandwich
represents the product.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 4
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Equation 9.4.1
or
Equation 9.4.2
where:
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 5
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Conversion using mass-mole or mole-mole stoichiometry is necessary for determining
which of the two reactants is limiting or will be used up first. Most reactions deal with having
a reactant that was not fully consumed in the reaction we term as excess reactants. To know
how much excess reactant will be present, you have to determine first, which among two
reactants would be the limiting reactant. Once identified, the limiting reactant will guide you
in knowing how much excess reactant is used for that specific reaction. You will then be able
to get the amount of unused or unreacted excess reactant by subtracting the used excess
reactant from its initial amount before the reaction.
Equation 9.4.3
Remember
The initial amounts of the excess reactant (before the reaction)
must be greater than what is required for the reaction to proceed.
Let’s Practice!
Example 1
Determine the limiting reactant in a reaction that produces sodium chloride given that 10 g
of sodium metal is needed to react with 10 g of chlorine gas?
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 6
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Solution
Step 1: Identify what is asked in the problem.
You are asked to determine the limiting reactant in the reaction.
Step 2: Identify the given in the problem
The balanced chemical equation.
The mass of Na (s) is 10 g.
The mass of Cl2 (g) is 10 g.
Step 3: Write the working equation.
Since you are asked to determine the limiting reactant, only the number of moles
of the desired product is necessary (mass-mole conversion).
Step 4: Substitute the values and solve the problem.
Compute for the expected amount of products in moles for each of the given
reactants using stoichiometric analysis.
Since Cl2 (g) yields the lesser amount of product, it is the limiting reactant.
1 Try It!
According to the equation below, ammonia gas reacts with hydrochloric acid to form
ammonium chloride:
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 7
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Determine the limiting reactant if 100 g of NH3 and 100 g of HCl are present at the
beginning of the reaction.
Example 2
Magnesium oxide is a type of mineral supplement used to treat or prevent low levels of
magnesium in the blood. It can be synthesized from the reaction of magnesium and oxygen
following this chemical reaction:
Calculate the mass of magnesium oxide produced if 12.5 g Mg reacts with 48.0 g O2.
Solution
Step 1: Identify what is asked in the problem.
You are asked to solve for the mass of magnesium oxide produced by the reaction.
Step 2: Identify the given in the problem.
The balanced chemical equation
The mass of Mg is 12.5 g.
The mass of O2 is 48.0 g.
Step 3: Write the working equation.
In identifying the limiting reactant, use mass-mole conversion or each of the
reactants.
Once determined, use the mass of the limiting reactant (LR) to solve for the mass of
MgO via mass-mass conversion.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 8
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Step 4: Determine which is the limiting reactant by substituting the given values.
Since Mg yields the lesser mol amount of the product, Mg is the limiting
reactant.
Step 5: Determine the mass of MgO using the amount of the limiting reactant.
The reaction is expected to produce 20.7 g MgO.
2 Try It!
Cobalt (III) oxide is an inorganic compound that is used extensively in the ceramic
industry as a coloring agent. Its Industrial preparation includes burning cobalt (II)
monoxide following this chemical reaction:
Calculate how much cobalt (III) oxide will be produced by reacting 46.5 grams of CoO
with 17.5 grams of O2.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 9
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Tip
The mole amount you initially calculated in determining the limiting
reactant can suffice the mole-mole conversion step in determining
the yield of the product, thus cutting back your stoichiometric
analysis.
Example 3
Lead (II) chloride reacts with chlorine to produce lead (IV) chloride. According to the
balanced reaction:
(a) Determine how much lead (IV) chloride will be produced by reacting 50.0 g of lead (II)
chloride and 15.0 g of chlorine gas? (b) How much of the excess remains after the reaction?
Solution
Step 1: Identify the given.
The balanced chemical equation.
The mass of PbCl2 is 50.0 g.
The mass of Cl2 is 15.0 g.
Step 2: Identify what is asked in the problem.
You are asked to solve for the mass of PbCl4 produced by the reaction.
You are asked to determine how much of the excess reactant remains after the
reaction.
Step 3: Write the working equation.
In identifying the limiting reactant, use mass-mole conversion or each of the
reactants.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 10
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Once determined, use the mass of the limiting reactant to solve for PbCl4 .
For the remaining excess reactant, you can use the equation below.
Since PbCl2 yields the lesser mol amount of the product, PbCl2 is the limiting reactant.
Step 5: Determine the yield of the reaction using the mass of the limiting reactant.
Step 6: Determine the amount of the used excess reactant in the reaction.
Use the initial amount of the limiting reactant to determine the consumed excess
reactant by using mass-mass conversion similar to Step 3.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 11
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Step 7: Determine the amount of the unreacted excess reagent in the reaction.
Substitute the mass of the used Cl2 below. Subtract it from the given value to give
you the remaining amount of the excess.
The reaction will yield 62.7 g PbCl4 and an excess amount of 2.3 g Cl2 will remain.
3 Try It!
A reaction vessel holds 10.5 g of P4 and 3.50 g of O2 to start the combustion of
tetraphosphorus forming P4O10 based on the following reaction:
Determine (a) the mass of P4O10 produced in the reaction vessel and (b) the percent
amount of the excess reactant being used in the reaction.
Determining the Limiting Reactant from a Multiple Product Reaction
Chemical reactions do not always produce a single type of product. Multiple products
happen, particularly in single or double displacement reactions and combustion reactions.
In a single product reaction, however, you base your limiting reactant by doing a
stoichiometric conversion to one type of product only. What happens if there are multiple
products in the reaction, and you do not know which among the products will you base your
limiting reactant? The answer is to analyze how your reactants will be consumed by one
another using stoichiometry upon reaction completion.
For instance, in a single-replacement reaction shown above, reactant A can be related to
reactant BC by comparing how much mole amounts are consumed by one another with
respect to their original mole amounts before the reaction. This can be further
demonstrated in the following example problems.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 12
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Let’s Practice!
Example 4
Methane, a colorless and odorless gas, is used as a fuel source to generate energy. In a
combustion setup of methane, 15.5 g of CH4 was made to react with 5.25 g of O2, as shown
in the equation below.
Determine which of the two reactants is the limiting reactant?
Solution
Step 1: Identify what is asked in the problem.
You are asked to determine the limiting reactant in the reaction.
Step 2: Identify the given in the problem
The balanced chemical equation
The mass of methane gas is 15.5 g.
The mass of oxygen gas is 5.25 g
Step 3: Write the working equation.
Since you are asked to determine the limiting reactant, use mass-mole conversion
for each reactant.
Step 4: Substitute the values and solve the problem.
Solve for the mole values of the given reactants.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 13
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Now compute for the expected amount of each of the mol reactants that will be
consumed in the reaction.
Step 5: Compare the values of the initial number of moles and the expected number
of moles to be consumed.
Notice that a 5.25 g O2 only needs 0.082 mol CH4 out of the total given amount of
0.48 mol CH4 This shows that there will be an excess of CH4 left when we exhaust
all the O2.
Conversely, a 15.5 g CH4 needs a 0.97 mol of O2, which exceeds the given limit of
only, 0.16 mol O2. This only shows that you will run out of O2 even before
exhausting all of your CH4.
This only shows that O2 (g) is the limiting reactant.
4 Try It!
Ammonia reacts with oxygen to produce nitrogen monoxide and liquid water
according to the reaction below.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 14
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Determine the limiting reagent if 100 g of NH3 and 100 g of O2 are reacted together.
Example 5
Sodium peroxide reacts with water to form sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide,
which are both used as industrial cleaners.
Calculate the mass of hydrogen peroxide produced if 78.0 g Na2O2 were made to react with
29.5 g H2O.
Solution
Step 1: Identify what is asked in the problem.
To solve for the mass of hydrogen peroxide produced by the reaction.
Step 2: Identify the given.
The balanced chemical equation
The mass of Na2O2 is 78.0 g.
The mass of H2O is 29.5 g.
Step 3: Write the working equation.
Since you are asked to determine the limiting reactant, use mass-mole conversion
for each reactant.
Once determined, use the mass of the limiting reactant to solve for the mass of
MgO via mass-mass conversion.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 15
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Step 4: Determine which is the limiting reactant by substituting the given values.
Solve for the mole values of the given reactants.
Assume that all H2O is consumed
Since there is only 1.00 mol of Na2O2 needed to consume all the H2O, Na2O2 is the
limiting reactant.
Step 5: Determine the mass of hydrogen peroxide produced by the reaction.
The reaction is expected to produce an amount of 18.0 g H2O2 (l).
5 Try It!
Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are gases that can react with each other forming
sulfur and water as products. The reaction can be expressed as:
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 16
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Determine how much sulfur will be produced by reacting 25.7 g SO2 and 17.5 g H2S,
assuming the reaction would proceed spontaneously.
Example 6
A 38.5 g of aluminum sulfide was made to react with 49.3 g of water in a sealed vessel that
shows the percentage of how much reactants were lost. Determine the percentage of the
excess reactant that remains in the vessel. Refer to the chemical equation below.
Solution
Step 1: Identify what is asked in the problem.
You are asked to solve for the percentage of the excess reactant that remains in
the vessel
Step 2: Identify the given.
The balanced chemical equation
The mass of Al2S3 is 38.5 g.
The mass of H2O is 49.3 g.
Step 3: Write the working equation.
Use mass-mole conversion for each reactant in determining the limiting reactant.
Use mass conversion to solve for the amount of excess reactant used in the
reaction.
For the % remaining (unreacted) excess reactant, use the equation below.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 17
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Step 4: Determine which is the limiting reactant by substituting the given values.
Solve for the mole values of the given reactants.
Assume that all H2O is consumed
Since there is only 0.26 mol of Al2S3 needed to consume all the H2O, Al2S3 is the
limiting reactant, and H2O is the excess reactant.
Step 5: Determine the mass of H2O using the determined limiting reactant.
Step 6: Determine the percentage of the excess reactant that remains.
The reaction vessel is expected to have 43% H2O as the excess.
6 Try It!
Consider the reaction of calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid made to react in a
vessel solution.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 18
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Determine how much of the excess reactant remains in the solution when 6.09 g
CaCO3 reacted with 2.85 g HCl.
Tips
It would seem that there are two approaches when dealing with
limiting reactants. The approach used for single product reactions is
just an extension of the calculation involved in multiple product
reactions. You can use any of the methods whichever suits you
since either approach will arrive in the same answer.
Key Points
___________________________________________________________________________________________
● Limiting reactant is a substance that is completely consumed when a chemical
reaction is completed.
● A substance that you have in excess amounts is the excess reactant. It is defined
as the substance that remains when the limiting reactant is completely consumed.
● Theoretical yield is the maximum amount of a specified product that could be
obtained assuming completeness of the reaction.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 19
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
_________________ 1. This conversion factor helps you relate the amount of products
produced from the given set of reactants. Also, it is used in the
determination of the limiting reactant.
_________________ 2. It is a substance that limits the amount of product that can be
formed in a reaction.
_________________ 3. It is the expected amount of product that could be produced
upon reaction completion.
_________________ 4. It is calculated as the amount that remains from the excess
reactant upon reaction completion.
_________________ 5. It is the reactant that remains when a reaction stops when the
limiting reactant is completely consumed.
__________________ 1. The limiting reactant is always consumed first in the reaction.
__________________ 2. The amount of product generated depends on the mass of the
limiting reactant.
__________________ 3. Excess reactants are not consumed directly in the reaction
because they are the ones that left after the reaction.
__________________ 5. It is safe to assume that the limiting reagent is always the one
that has the lesser mass given, as stated in the problem.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 20
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
1. Iron (III) oxide reacts with carbon monoxide to produce iron and carbon dioxide
according to the reaction below.
a. Assuming that there are no side reactions, determine the limiting reagent if
29.3 g of aluminum and 110 g of chlorine gas are present at the start of the
reaction.
b. Determine how many grams of the excess reactant was needed to react with
the limiting reactant.
3. Ammonia is industrially prepared via Haber process in which nitrogen and hydrogen
gases are reacted together over high pressures.
Based on the given equation, how many grams of NH3 can be produced from
reacting 77.3 g N2 and 14.2 g H2 via the Haber process?
4. Chloroform, CHCl3 is a toxic substance that targets the central nervous system and is
fatal at high doses. Chloroform can be treated via chlorination to lower its
concentration levels in a solution as shown in the equation below.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 21
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
In an analysis, 25.0 grams of both chloroform and chlorine gases were mixed. Which
is the maximum yield of CCl4 in grams? Assume that no other side reactions
occurred.
5. Methane, CH4, burns in oxygen to release carbon dioxide and water as shown in the
following equation.
Determine the theoretical yield of H2O if 0.250 mol CH4 was allowed to be burned in
0.75 mol O2 in a sealed vessel.
Challenge Yourself
1. Disulfur dichloride, S2Cl2, is used for vulcanizing rubber materials. Production is made
by treating molten sulfur with gaseous chlorine according to the reaction below:
Starting with a mixture of 32.0 g of sulfur and 71.0 g of chlorine gas, determine the
following:
2. It is reported that tin (IV) chloride has a 76.1% yield upon the reaction of tin with
chlorine gas as per the reaction below.
Your lab head wants you to get at least 100 g of SnCl4 from the reaction. Apparently,
your lab has a limited supply of the reagents and only offered you 60 g of Sn and 75
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 22
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
g of Cl2 gas to proceed. Will you be able to produce the required amount of SnCl4?
Explain.
A reaction chamber monitors the weight of both reactants and products upon
reaction completion. Unfortunately, one of the chambers added the amount of the
excess reactant that was left from the reaction into the total yield of aluminum (III)
oxide, thereby miscalculating the percent yield. The monitor shows a percent yield of
98% from the reaction of 25.8 g Al and 16.5 g O2. Determine the actual yield of the
reaction.
4. Copper metal can displace silver in a silver nitrate solution according to the reaction
below.
A certain copper test kit uses silver nitrate as a colorimetric method to determine the
extent of silver atoms being displaced in the reaction. The kit changes its color from
yellow to bright red upon detecting at least 0.01 mol of solid Ag displaced in a
solution. Determine the minimum amount of solid copper the test kit could detect.
5. Explain how the unreacted amount of the excess reagent affects the percent yield of
the reaction?
Bibliography
Chang, Raymond, and Ken Goldsby. General Chemistry. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 2014.
Print.
Hill, James C., Theodore L. Brown, H. Eugene LeMay, Bruce Edward. Bursten, Catherine J.
Murphy, Patrick M. Woodward, and Matthew Stoltzfus. Chemistry: The Central Science,
13th Edition. NJ: Pearson, 2015. Print.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 23
Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
Petrucci, Ralph H. General Chemistry: Principles and Modern Applications. Toronto, Ont.:
Pearson Canada, 2011. Print.
Silberberg, Martin S. Principles of General Chemistry. New York: McGraw Hill, 2013. Print.
Whitten, Kenneth W., Davis, Raymond E., Peck, M. Larry, Chemistry 9th Edition. Brooks/Cole,
10 Davis Drive Belmont, CA, 2010. Print.
9.4. Calculating the Theoretical Yield Based on the Limiting Reactant 24