15 - Limiting and Excess Reagents SCH3U – Quantities in Chemistry

Date: ______________________________________________

Limiting and Excess Reagents

In a chemical reaction, the _____________________________ amount of compound which can be
formed will be limited by the amount of reactants present
Often one of the reactants will run out before the other
The reactant which runs out is known as the ______________________________________
The reagent left in excess is called the ____________________________________

Example: Consider the construction of a car.

If we have 10 car bodies, 22 wiper blades and 32 tires, how many cars can we make?

How much is left over?

Example:
If 5.76 g of NaCl is reacted with 9.52 g of AgNO3, calculate the maximum amount of AgCl
which could be produced.

How much excess reagent is left over?

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15 - Limiting and Excess Reagents SCH3U – Quantities in Chemistry

Example:
Ca(NO3)2 reacts with Na3PO4 to produce a solid, Ca3(PO4)2. Calculate the amount of
Ca3(PO4)2 if 18.8 g of Ca(NO3)2 and 15.2 g of Na3PO4 are reacted. Calculate the amount of
excess after.

Percent Yield
The __________________________________ of a reaction is the _______________________ amount of
product which could be formed if all of the _______________________________ were completely
converted into ______________________ according to the Stoichiometry of the reaction

For example, if one mole of N2 was reacted with 4 moles of H2, the theoretical yield of
NH3 is ____ moles of NH3.
The ________________ is the actual amount of product which is formed when the reaction is
actually done.

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15 - Limiting and Excess Reagents SCH3U – Quantities in Chemistry

Example:
1.00 mol of N2 reacts with 4.00 moles of H2 to form 0.250 moles of ammonia. What is the
percentage yield?

Example:
A sample of water contains 0.345 g of Ca(OH)2. Upon addition of 0.528 g of Na2CO3 a mass
of 0.256 g CaCO3 forms. What is the percentage yield?

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15 - Limiting and Excess Reagents SCH3U – Quantities in Chemistry

Homework
1. Given the following unbalanced reaction:
C3H8(g) + O2(g) → CO2(g) + H2O(g)
a) If you start with 14.8 g of C3H8(g) and 3.44 g of O2(g), determine the limiting reagent
b) Determine the number of moles of carbon dioxide produced
c) Determine the number of grams of H2O(g) produced
d) Determine the number of grams of excess reagent left

2. Given the following unbalanced reaction:

Al2(SO3)3(aq) + NaOH(aq) → Na2SO3(aq) + 2 Al(OH)3(s)
a) If 10.0 g of Al2(SO3)3(aq) is reacted with 10.0 g of NaOH(aq), determine the limiting
reagent
b) Determine the number of moles of Al(OH)3(s) produced
c) Determine the number of grams of Na2SO3(aq) produced
d) Determine the number of grams of excess reagent left over in the reaction

3. Given the following unbalanced reaction:

Al2O3(aq) + Fe(s) → Fe3O4(aq) + Al(s)
a) If 25.4 g of Al2O3(aq) is reacted with 10.2 g of Fe(s), determine the limiting reagent
b) Determine the number of moles of Al(s) produced
c) Determine the number of grams of Fe3O4(aq) produced
d) Determine the number of grams of excess reagent left over in the reaction

4. Consider the following unbalanced reaction:

I2O5(g) + 5 CO(g) → 5 CO2(g) + I2(s)
If 80.0 grams of iodine(V) oxide, I2O5(g), reacts with 28.0 grams of carbon monoxide,
CO(g). Determine the mass of iodine I2(s), which could be produced?

5. Consider the reaction between magnesium and oxygen.

a) Which element is in excess when 3.00 grams of magnesium is ignited in 2.20 grams
of pure oxygen?
b) What mass of that element is in excess?
c) What mass of magnesium oxide is formed?

6. Silver nitrate reacts with ferric chloride to give silver chloride and ferric nitrate. In a
particular experiment, it was planned to mix a solution containing 25.0 g of silver
nitrate with another solution containing 45.0 grams of ferric chloride.
a) Write the balanced chemical equation for the above reaction.
b) Which reactant is the limiting reactant?
c) What is the maximum number of moles of silver chloride that could be obtained
from this mixture?
d) What is the maximum number of grams of silver chloride that could be obtained?
e) How many grams of the reactant in excess will remain after the reaction is over?

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15 - Limiting and Excess Reagents SCH3U – Quantities in Chemistry

Answers
1. Balanced reaction:
C3H8(g) + 5 O2(g) → 3 CO2(g) + 4 H2O(g)
a) O2(g)
b) 0.0645 mol CO2(g)
c) 1.55 g H2O(g)
d) 13.9 g C3H8(g)

2. Balanced reaction:
Al2(SO3)3(aq) + 6 NaOH(aq) → 3 Na2SO3(aq) + 2 Al(OH)3(s)
a) Al2(SO3)3
b) 0.068 mol Al(OH)3
c) 12.9 g Na2SO3
d) 1.84 g NaOH

3. Balanced reaction:
4 Al2O3 + 9 Fe → 3 Fe3O4 + 8 Al
a) Fe
b) 0.163 mol Al
c) 14.1 g Fe3O4
d) 17.1 g Al2O3

4. Balanced reaction:
I2O5(g) + 5 CO(g) → 5 CO2(g) + I2(s)
50.7 g I2(s)

5. Balanced reaction:
2 Mg(s) + O2(g) → 2 MgO(s)
a) O2(g)
b) 0.226 g O2(g)
c) 4.97 g MgO(s)

6. Balanced reaction:
a) 3 AgNO3(aq) + FeCl3(aq) → 3 AgCl(s) + Fe(NO3)3(aq)
b) AgNO3(aq)
c) 0.147 mol AgCl(s)
d) 21.1 g AgCl(s)
e) 37.1 g FeCl3(aq)

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