6 ­ Limiting and Excess Reagents

Making Sandwiches
One day Sheldon Copper decided that he was starving! He went home,
scoured his fridge and found enough stuff to make himself a bunch of BLT
sandwiches.

Shedon used 2 slices of bread, a couple leaves of lettuce, a

tomato slice and a couple slices of bacon

Sheldon had his sandwich and decided that one was definitely not enough so he kept making
sandwiches until he ran out of ingredients. Now, Sheldon is special. He needs to make sure that his
sandwiches are exactly the same... How many sandwiches could he make before he ran out of stuff?

Ques 1: What is the ingredient(s) that "limits" the number of sandwiches he can make?

Ques 2: Which ingredient(s) is in excess?

Now let's look at chemistry...

The limiting reagent is the reactant that gets completely used up in the reaction
The excess reagent is the reactant that is not completely used up in the reaction

• In order to ensure that the reaction proceeds to completion you need to make sure
that there is more than enough excess reagent present in the reaction.
• There is often more of the excess reagent left over following a chemical reaction.

Calculation for ensuring one reagent is in excess:

Ques 3: Use the scenario below to answer parts a & b of this question.
A solution of 1.0 mol/L sodium hydroxide reacts with 50.0 mL, 1.25 mol/L
sulfuric acid to produce water and an inorganic salt.

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6 ­ Limiting and Excess Reagents

A) Calculate the volume (in mL) of sodium hydroxide required to

react with the sulfuric acid.
2NaOH(aq) + H2SO4(aq) Na2SO4(aq) + 2 HOH(l)
C = 1.0 mol/L C = 1.25 mol/L
v = x mL v = 50.0 mL

B): If I wanted my acid to be my limiting reagent, how much excess

sodium hydroxide would I add?
Creating an excess reagent ­ add 10% to the calculated required
amount to ensure that your solution is in excess.
• Calculate how much NaOH you would add to make the reaction work (done in previous ques)
• Add 10% to that calculated amount.
i) 10% of 125mL is: 125mL x 0.10 = 12.5 mL
ii) Add the 10% to the original 125mL: 125mL + 12.5 mL = 137.5 mL

Solving limiting or excess calculations: 1) Covert both reactants to moles

= 1382)mL (sigeach
Divide digs)reagent by its coefficient to get a 1:1 ratio
3) Compare your values and determine your LR
** The smaller number will be your limiting reagent
4) Solve your question using the LR

Ques 4: If 10.0g of copper is reacted with 20.0ml of 6.67 mol/L silver nitrate, how much silver
is produced? How much excess reagent is left over?
Cu (s) + 2 AgNO3 (aq) 2 Ag (s) + Cu(NO3)2 (aq)
10 g 20.0 mL xg
6.67 mol/L

a) Convert both reactants to moles

10.0 gCu 0.0200 LAgNO3 6.67 molAgNO3
x 1 molCu x
1 63.55gCu 1 1 LAgNO3

= 0.157356412 molCu = 0.1334 molAgNO3

b) Divide each reagent by its coefficient to get to a 1:1 ratio.

0.157 molCu 0.1334 molAgNO3

1 molCu From balanced
equation 2 mol AgNO3

= 0.157 mol Cu = 0.0667 mol AgNO3

c) Compare your values and determine your LR

* The smaller number will be your limiting reagent.

= 0.157 mol Cu = 0.0667 mol AgNO3

EXCESS REAGENT LIMITING REAGENT

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6 ­ Limiting and Excess Reagents

d) Solve your question using the LR

0.1334 molAgNO3 2 molAg 107.87 gAg

xgAg = = 14.4gAg
1 2 molAgNO3 molAg

Use the original amount of moles because you used up all of it.

e) How much excess reagent is left over? Ans: 5.76g

i) Calculate the mass of copper that reacted with the LR

0.020 LAgNO3 6.67 mol 1 molCu 63.55 gCu
xgCu = = 4.24 gCu reacted
1 L 2 molAgNO3 molCu
ii) Calculate how much Cu is left.

10g ­ 4.24g = 5.76 g of Cu left over.

Now try these questions...

Ques 5: 5.00 g of NaOH(s) is added to 50.0 mL of 1.25 mol/L HNO3(aq). Calculate the mass of
water that forms. Ans: 1.13 gHOH

Ques 6: If 20.0 mL of 3.0 mol/L H2SO4(aq) is added to 15 mL of 5.0 mol/L KOH(aq), what
mass of water can form? Ans: 1.4g HOH
(not 2.16 g HOH)
Ques 7: 350g of KOH(s) is added to 1.00L of 6.0 mol/L H3PO4(aq). How many moles of the excess
reagent are left over? Ans: 3.92 mol

Ques 8: 10.0L of nitrogen gas at 105 kPa and 35oC are mixed with 33.5 L of hydrogen gas at 95.0
kPa and 40.0oC and ammonia gas is formed. What mass of ammonia gas will form? Ans: 13.9g

Ques 9: Copper reacts with dilute nitric acid according to the following equation:

3 Cu­(s) + 8 HNO3(aq) 3 Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2 NO(g) + 4 H2O(l)

A 200.0 mL sample of 2.00 mol/L nitric acid is added to 30.48g of copper. Determine which
reactant is the limiting reagent. What volume of nitrogen monoxide at 99.5 kPa and 20oC is
produced? Ans: 2.45 L

Assign: Read Text p. 320 ­ 333

Do text ques p. 324 #3­5
Do text ques p. 327 #4­9