Week 7 science

Limiting Reactants

“The limiting reactant or limiting reagent is a reactant in a chemical reaction that determines the amount of formed
product. Identification of the limiting reactant makes it possible to calculate the theoretical yield of a reaction.

           There is a limiting reactant because elements and compounds react according to the mole ratio between them in a
balanced chemical equation. So, for example, if the mole ratio in the balanced equation states it takes 1 mole of each
reactant to produce a product (1:1 ratio) and one of the reactants is present in a higher amount than the other, the reactant
present in the lower amount would be limiting reactant. All of it would be used up before the other reactant ran out.

           Assuming the hot dogs and buns combine in a one-to-one ratio, we will be limited by the number of hot dog buns
we have since we run out of buns first. We would call the hot dog buns the limiting reagent or limiting reactant in this less
than ideal situation.”
(taken from: https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-limiting-reactant-605310)

Excess Reactants
      “The excess reactant is the reactant in a chemical reaction with a greater amount than necessary to react completely
with the limiting reactant. It is the reactant(s) that remain after a chemical reaction has reached equilibrium.

How to Identify the Excess Reactant?

The excess reactant may be found using the balanced chemical equation for a reaction, which gives the mole ratio
between reactants.

For example, if the balanced equation for a reaction is:

2 AgI + Na2S → Ag2S + 2 NaI

From the balanced equation, you can see a 2:1 mole ratio between silver iodide and sodium sulfide. If you start a reaction
with 1 mole of each substance, then silver iodide is the limiting reactant, and sodium sulfide is the excess reactant. If you
are given the mass of reactants, first convert them to moles and then compare their values to the mole ratio to identify the
limiting and excess reactants. Note, if there are more than two reactants, one will be a limiting reactant, and the others will
be excess reactants.”
(taken from: https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-excess-reactant-605111)

Theoretical Yield

fore performing chemical reactions, it is helpful to know how much product will be produced with given quantities of
reactants. This is known as the theoretical yield. This is a strategy to use when calculating the theoretical yield of a
chemical reaction. The same strategy can be applied to determine each reagent needed to produce a desired amount of
product.

           Theoretical yield is the quantity of a product obtained from the complete conversion of the limiting reactant in a
chemical reaction. It is the amount of product resulting from a perfect (theoretical) chemical reaction, and thus not the
same as the amount you'll get from a reaction in the lab. Theoretical yield is commonly expressed in terms of grams or
moles.”
(taken from: https://www.thoughtco.com/theoretical-yield-definition-602125)

Percent Yield
 “Percent yield is the percent ratio of actual yield to the theoretical yield. It is calculated to be the experimental yield
divided by theoretical yield multiplied by 100%. If the actual and theoretical yields are the same, the percent yield is
100%. Usually, the percent yield is lower than 100% because the actual yield is often less than the theoretical value.
Reasons for this can include incomplete or competing reactions and loss of sample during recovery. Percent yield can be
over 100%, which means more sample was recovered from a reaction than predicted. This can happen when other
reactions were occurring that also formed the product. It can also be a source of error if the excess is due to incomplete
water removal or other impurities from the sample. Percent yield is always a positive value.

The equation for percent yield is:

percent yield = (actual yield/theoretical yield) x 100%

Where:
           Actual yield is the amount of product obtained from a chemical reaction theoretical yield. While theoretical yield is
the amount of product obtained from the stoichiometric or balanced equation, using the limiting reactant to determine
product. Units for both actual and theoretical yield, needs to be the same (moles or grams).

Example Percent Yield Calculation

           The decomposition of magnesium carbonate forms 15 grams of magnesium oxide in an experiment. The theoretical
yield is known to be 19 grams. What is the percent yield of magnesium oxide?

MgCO3 → MgO + CO2

           The calculation is simple if you know the actual and theoretical yields. All you need to do is plug the values into
the formula:

percent yield = actual yield / theoretical yield x 100%

percent yield = 15 g / 19 g x 100%
percent yield = 79%
           Usually, you have to calculate the theoretical yield based on the balanced equation. In this equation, the reactant
and the product have a 1:1 mole ratio, so if you know the amount of reactant, you know the theoretical yield is the same
value in moles (not grams!). You take the number of grams of reactant you have, convert it to moles, and then use this
number of moles to find out how many grams of product to expect.“
(taken from: https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-percent-yield-605899)