CHM1 Q1 0902 FD

Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions

Lesson 9.2
Determining the Limiting and the Excess Reactants

Contents
Introduction 1
Learning Objectives 2
Warm Up 2
Learn about It! 3

Limiting and Excess Reactants 3
Determining the Limiting Reactant and the Amount of Product(s) Formed 5
Calculating the Remaining Excess Reactant After the Reaction 14
Key Points 22
Check Your Understanding 22
Challenge Yourself 24
Bibliography 25
Key to Try It! 25

Lesson 9.2
Determining the Limiting and the

Excess Reactants

Introduction
In cooking, doing arts and crafts, or performing experiments, we use a specific number of
materials or ingredients. But there are cases when we run out of materials, or there would
be extra materials available. This also happens in real-life chemical reactions. In chemical
reactions, not all of the reactants are converted to products. Most of the time, one reactant
is entirely used up while others are left in excess. Chemists need to know which reactant
will run out first to determine how much product they would expect, as well as knowing
how much the other excess reactant will be left for future use. In this lesson, you will learn
about limiting and excess reactants in chemical reactions.

9.2. Determining the Limiting and the Excess Reactants 1


Learning Objectives DepEd Competency

In this lesson, you should be able to do the Explain the concept of limiting
reagent in a chemical reaction;
following:
identify the excess reagent(s)
● Define the concept of limiting and (STEM_GC11MR-Ig-h-40).
excess reactants.
● Determine the limiting and excess

reactants using mole ratios from
balanced chemical equations.
● Calculate the amount of product
formed from the limiting reactant.
● Calculate the amount of excess
reactant left after the reaction.

Warm Up
Snail Mail 5 minutes

Have you ever sent a letter via post? For this activity, you are tasked to mail as many sets of
invitations as you can using the available materials. This activity will introduce limiting and
excess reactants in a fun and simple way.

Materials
● ten sheets of paper
● ten pieces of letter envelopes

Procedure
1. Think of an event that you want to invite your friends into.
2. Using the available materials, make as many sets of invitations as you can. A set
includes the official invitation sheet, an RSVP sheet, and a letter envelope.
3. You can be creative with your invitations but make them simple.
4. After you have used up all the available materials, answer the questions that follow.



Guide Questions
1. How many sets of invitations were you able to make given the available materials?
2. What were the limitations that prevented you from making more sets of invitations?
3. After the activity, were there extra materials left over? How many were left?
Learn about It!

Limiting and Excess Reactants
In real life, we rarely see reactants present in the ratios specified in the balanced chemical
reaction. Typically, there will be one reactant that is completely used up, and others that are
in excess. In the laboratory, this same principle applies. Chemists usually use one or more
excess reactants, while there would be one that is limited or consumed first in the reaction.
When one reactant is completely consumed, the reaction stops. The reactant that is
consumed first limits the reaction; thus, it dictates the amount of products that can be
formed. This reactant is called the limiting reactant. After the reaction stops, the
reactant(s) leftover in excess is the excess reactant. Knowing the limiting reactant helps
chemists calculate the amount of product to expect as well as how much of the excess
reactant/s will be left after the reaction.

How can one determine the limiting and excess

reactants?

To help you understand the process of determining limiting and excess reactants, look at
Fig. 9.2.1. Suppose you want to send letters to your friends. To send each letter, you will
need two stamps for every envelope. If you have six stamps and six envelopes, how many
letters can you send? You can see that only five letters can be sent. The number of letters is
limited to the available number of stamps, and you have an excess of envelopes. Chemical
reactions work similarly.



Fig. 9.2.1. Limiting and excess reactant letter analogy

Consider the reaction of sodium metal and chlorine gas to form sodium chloride in Fig.
9.2.2. In the figure, four atoms of sodium metal react with four molecules of chlorine gas.
During the reaction, the chlorine molecules separate into individual chlorine atoms that can
combine with the sodium atoms forming sodium chloride molecules. How many molecules
of sodium chloride can be produced from the available atoms? Based on the number of
available atoms, four molecules of sodium chloride can be produced because there are only
four atoms of sodium available—one for each sodium chloride molecule. When sodium is
gone, the reaction stops, and two unreacted molecules of chlorine remain. Thus, sodium is
the limiting reactant, and chlorine is the excess reactant.

How many more atoms of sodium would be needed

to completely react with the excess chlorine

molecules in Fig. 9.2.2?



Fig. 9.2.2. The reaction of four atoms of sodium metal and four molecules of chlorine gas,
producing four molecules of sodium chloride with two excess molecules of chlorine gas.

Determining the Limiting Reactant and the Amount of Product(s)
Formed
In real life, you cannot count the molecules directly—they are very small and are too many
to count. Rather, you count by weighing the substances. Therefore, other ways of
determining the limiting reactant must be explored. In the laboratory, reactants in much
larger quantities are often used. Thus, using moles rather than molecules or atoms is more
suitable.
Remember
One mole of a substance is equal to 6.022 ✕ 1023
particles/molecules/atoms

For example, suppose 5.00 g of sodium metal reacts with 10.0 g of chlorine gas to form
sodium chloride. How do you calculate the amount of sodium chloride formed upon
completion of the reaction?

To do this, the balanced chemical equation:

must be used to determine the limiting reactant. The amount of sodium chloride that is
formed can now be calculated using the limiting reactant.



First, the moles of reactants present must be determined using stoichiometry. To find the
moles, we need to know the molar masses. The molar masses of Na and Cl2 are 22.99 g/mol
and 70.91 g/mol, respectively.

The number of moles of each reactant can now be calculated.

Looking at the balanced chemical equation, two moles of Na reacts with one mole of Cl2. The
mole ratio will be 1 mol Cl2: 2 mol Na. Therefore, the number of moles of Cl2 that will react
with Na is

Only 0.109 mol of Cl2 will react with the available 0.217 mol of Na, which means that there
will be an excess of Cl2. This means that sodium will be consumed first before chlorine,
making it the limiting reactant, while chlorine is the excess reactant.

In determining the amount of sodium chloride formed, the amount of the limiting reactant
will be used:

Converting moles to grams gives

This process can be summarized in Fig.9.2.3.



Fig.9.2.3. The schematic diagram of the stoichiometric calculation.

Tips
You can pick any reactant as the possible limiting reactant. You will
discover that either it is the excess reactant or it is the limiting
reactant.
Let’s Practice!
Example 1
In the reaction below, 50.0 moles of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) reacts with 70.0 moles of
sulfuric acid (H2SO4).

Which reactant is the limiting reactant?

Solution
Step 1: Identify what is required in the problem.
The problem asks to determine the limiting reactant.



Step 2: Identify the given in the problem.
The balanced chemical equation and the moles of sodium hydroxide
and sulfuric acid are given.

Step 3: Write the working equation.
To determine the number of moles of y required to react with the number of moles
of x:

Step 4: Substitute the given values and solve for the limiting reactant.
First, determine the number of moles required to react with 50.0 mol NaOH.
From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 2 mol NaOH: 1 mol H2SO4.

Step 5: Find the answer.
Only 25.0 mol of H2SO4 is required to react with 50.0 mol of NaOH, which is less
than the available moles of H2SO4; NaOH will run out before H2SO4.

Therefore, the limiting reactant is NaOH.

1 Try It!
Ammonia reacts with oxygen forming nitrogen monoxide and liquid water:

Determine the limiting reactant if 1.00 mol of NH3 and 2.00 mol of O2 react.


Example 2
Consider the reaction
If 25.0 g of MoO3 reacts with 30.0 g of Zn, what mass of ZnO is formed?

Solution
The problem asks to calculate the amount of ZnO formed.

The balanced chemical equation and the masses of MoO3 and Zn
are given.

To determine the number of moles of each reactant:

of x:

To determine the amount of product (z) formed:



First, determine the number of moles of each reactant. To find the number of
moles, we need to know the molar masses of MoO3 and Zn
. The molar masses of MoO3 and Zn are 143.94 g/mol and 65.41 g/mol,
respectively.

The number of moles of each reactant will be

Then, determine the number of moles required to react with 0.174 mol MoO3.
From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 3 mol Zn: 2 mol MoO3.

The required moles of Zn for 0.174 mol of MoO3 is less than the available number
of moles. Therefore, the limiting reactant is MoO3. The amount of ZnO can now be
calculated.

From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 3 mol ZnO: 2 mol MoO3 and
the molar mass of ZnO is 81.41 g/mol.


The amount of ZnO produced after the reaction is 21.2 g.



2 Try It!
5.00 g of magnesium is ignited in 3.5 g of pure oxygen producing magnesium oxide
according to the following equation:

How many grams of MgO is formed?

Tips
If the problem asks for the amount of product formed given the
initial amount of the reactants, it would be easier to calculate the
amount of product formed if each reactant is consumed
completely. The limiting reactant is the reactant, which produces
the least amount of product.

Let us consider Example 2. Take note that we are asked for the
amount of ZnO produced. Once we have the amount in moles of
each reactant, we can use it to determine the amount in moles of
ZnO formed if that reactant is completely used.

If MoO3 is completely used:

If Zn is completely used:



Since MoO3 produces the least amount of ZnO, then it is the limiting
reactant. This means that the maximum amount of product that
can be formed with the given amount of reactants is 0.261 mol of
ZnO.

Converting this to grams:

Example 3
During photosynthesis reactions in plants, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) are used to
produce glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O2). Write the balanced chemical equation and
determine the mass of glucose produced if a plant has 68.0 g of carbon dioxide and 12.0 g
of water available.

Solution
The problem asks to write the balanced chemical equation and to calculate the
amount of glucose produced.

The masses of CO2 and H2O are given.




of x:


First, write the balanced chemical equation.

Next, determine the number of moles of each reactant. To find the number of
moles, we need to know the molar masses of CO2 and H2O. The molar masses of
MoO3 and Zn are 44.01 g/mol and 18.02 g/mol.


Then, determine the number of moles required to react with 1.70 mol CO2.
From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 6 mol CO2: 6 mol H2O.

The required moles of H2O for 1.70 mol of CO2 is more than the available number
of moles. Therefore, the limiting reactant is H2O. The amount of glucose can now
be calculated.



From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 1 mol C6H12O6: 6 mol H2O and
the molar mass of glucose is 180.15 g/mol.

The balanced chemical equation is shown below.

The amount of glucose produced after the reaction is 20.0 g.

3 Try It!
Aluminum chloride (AlCl3) is produced when aluminum (Al) reacts with chlorine gas
(Cl2). Write the balanced chemical equation and calculate the mass of aluminum
chloride produced if 3.50 g of aluminum reacts with 1.75 g of chlorine gas.

Calculating the Remaining Excess Reactant After the Reaction
Now that you know how to determine the limiting reactant and the amount of product
formed, you can now analyze the excess reactant. Since the excess reactant is the leftover
reactant when the reaction stops, it is useful to determine the amount of excess reactant
remaining, which may be used in future reactions.

To determine the amount of excess reactant remaining, first, you need to determine how
much of it reacted. You need to calculate the number of moles of the reacted excess
reactant from the limiting reactant. Going back to our sodium metal and chlorine gas
reaction, knowing that the limiting reactant is sodium, the number of moles of chlorine that
reacted can be calculated.



Next, the mass of the reacted chlorine can be obtained by multiplying the moles of chlorine
by its molar mass.

Finally, knowing that the available chlorine is 10.0 g and only 7.73 g reacted, you can
calculate the amount of unreacted chlorine by getting the difference between the two.

Let’s Practice!
Example 4
Given the following reaction

How many moles of iron will be left if 12.7 mol of chlorine was made to react with 23.67 mol
of iron?

Solution
The problem asks to calculate the amount of iron remaining.

The balanced chemical equation and the available moles of iron and
chlorine are given. The excess reactant is also given, which is iron.



To determine the number of moles of the excess reactant (ER) that reacted with the
available limiting reactant (LR):

To determine the unreacted ER:

Step 4: Substitute the given values and solve for the amount of excess reactant.
The mass of the unreacted Fe is

The number of moles of iron left is

Step 5 : Find the answer.

After the reaction, there will be 0.3 g of iron left unreacted.

4 Try It!
Aluminum and hydrobromic acid react to form aluminum bromide and hydrogen gas
according to the following equation:

How many moles of aluminum will remain if 401.3 moles of aluminum reacts with
86.9 moles of hydrobromic acid?



Example 5
Suppose a reaction vessel contains 1.20 g of NH3 and 1.40 g O2. How much of the excess
reactant will remain?

Solution
The problem asks for the amount of excess reactant left.

The balanced chemical equation and the available masses of NH3 and O2
are given.


of x:

To determine the mass of the excess reactant (ER) that reacted with the available
limiting reactant (LR):



Step 4: Substitute the given values and solve for the remaining excess reactant.
First, determine the number of moles of each reactant.
To find the number of moles, we need to know the molar masses of NH3 and O2.
The molar masses of NH3 and O2 are 17.03 g/mol and 32.0 g/mol, respectively.


Then, determine the number of moles required to react with 0.0705 mol NH3.
From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 5 mol O2: 4 mol NH3.

The required moles of O2 for 0.0705 mol of NH3 is more than the available number
of moles. Therefore, the limiting reactant is O2. The reacted amount of NH3 can
now be calculated.

The mass of NH3 left is


After the reaction, there will be 0.60 g of NH3 left unreacted.



5 Try It!
Consider the following reaction.

When 0.53 grams of CuCl2 reacts with 0.61 grams of KI, how much of the excess
reactant will remain?

Example 6
The reaction of sodium hydroxide with chlorine gas produces sodium chloride, sodium
hypochlorite, and water.

If 38.9 g of chlorine gas is bubbled into a solution containing 64.2 g NaOH, how many grams
of NaClO can eventually be produced? How much of the excess reactant will be left?

Solution
The problem asks for the amount of NaClO produced, and the amount of excess
reactant left.

The balanced chemical equation and the available masses of NaOH
and Cl2 are given.



of x:


To determine the mass of the excess reactant (ER) that reacted with the available
limiting reactant (LR):


Step 4: Substitute the given values and solve for the amount of NaClO formed, and
the amount of excess reactant left.
First, determine the number of moles of each reactant. To find the number of
moles, we need to know the molar masses of NaOH and Cl2. The molar masses of
NaOH and Cl2 are 40.0 g/mol and 70.91 g/mol, respectively.




Then, determine the number of moles required to react with 1.60 mol NaOH.
From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 1 mol Cl2: 2 mol NaOH.

The required moles of Cl2 for 1.60 mol of NaOH is more than the available number
of moles. Therefore, the limiting reactant is Cl2. The amount of NaClO produced
can now be calculated.

From the given balanced equation, the mole ratio is 1 mol NaClO: 1 mol Cl2 and
the molar mass of NaClO is 74.44 g/mol.

Still using the limiting reactant, the mass of reacted NaOH is

The mass of NaOH left is


After the reaction, 40.9 g of NaClO will be produced, and 20.3 g of NaOH left unreacted.

6 Try It!
Reacting carbon dioxide with potassium hydroxide can remove it from the air.



If 25.6 grams of carbon dioxide reacts with 33.0 grams of potassium hydroxide, how
much potassium carbonate will be formed? What amount of excess reactant remains
after the reaction is complete?

Key Points
___________________________________________________________________________________________

● During a chemical reaction, the reactant that is completely consumed is called the
limiting reactant.
● Upon consumption of the limiting reactant, the reaction stops, and the reactants
that remain are called excess reactants.
● In determining which is the limiting and the excess reactant, the number of moles
of each must be compared. The one which has more moles than required would
be the excess reactant, and the other would be the limiting reactant.
● The limiting reactant should be the basis for all stoichiometric calculations.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify each item if it describes the (A) limiting reactant or (B) excess

reactant. Write the letter of your answer on the space provided.

_______ 1. The reaction stops when this reactant is completely consumed.
_______ 2. This reactant determines the amount of product that can be made.
_______ 3. This reactant that remains after the reaction stops.
_______ 4. The reactant that is NOT completely consumed after the reaction stops.
_______ 5. The reactant present in the least number of moles.


B. For the following scenarios or reactions, determine the limiting
reactant.

_____________________ 1. burning wood in a bonfire
_____________________ 2. actors auditioning for roles in a movie
_____________________ 3. having three eggs and four cups of flour when the recipe
calls for one egg and two cups of flour
_____________________ 4. fermentation of sugar in yeast media for the production of
ethanol
_____________________ 5. decomposition of baking powder in the cake batter to

produce carbon dioxide
C. A diagram of the reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen is shown. Study

the diagram and complete the table.

The molar masses of H2, N2, and NH3 are 2.02 g/mol, 28.01 g/mol, and 13.03 g/mol,
respectively.

Limiting Amount of Excess

Amount of H2 Amount of N2 Amount of NH3
Reactant Reactant
3 molecules 1 molecule 2 molecules None None
9 molecules 9 molecules 6 molecules H2 3 molecules of N2


8 molecules 2 molecules (1) (2) (3)
5.00 mol 7.00 mol (4) (5) (6)
10.0 g 20.0 g (7) (8) (9)
D. Solve the following problem. Show your complete solution in your

notebook.
Acrylonitrile (C3H3N) is the starting material for many synthetic carpets and fabrics. It is
produced by the following reaction.

If 15.0 g C3H6, 10.0 g O2, and 5.00 g NH3 are reacted, what mass of acrylonitrile can be
produced? What is the limiting reactant? How much excess reactants are left?

Challenge Yourself

Answer the following questions.
1. “The reactant with the lowest mass is the limiting reactant.” Explain why this
statement is incorrect.
2. In determining the limiting reactant, all reactants must be expressed in moles. Why is
this so?
3. Commercial iron is obtained by reacting hematite with carbon monoxide. The
reaction can be represented by the following equation:

Which is the limiting reactant? Which is the excess reactant? Explain your answer.
4. You are at the beach with your family for vacation, and you are tasked to make the
bonfire. After a while, your bonfire starts to die down; you then start fanning the fire
to make it bigger. Explain in terms of limiting and excess reactants why fanning the
fire helps it flare up again.


5. The combustion of methane is represented by the following equation:

Draw a diagram that represents two molecules of methane reacting with six
molecules of oxygen. Show the particles before and after the reaction and include
excess reactants.

Bibliography
Chang, Raymond, and Ken Goldsby. 2014. General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts. New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Cracolice, Mark S., and Edward I. Peters. 2016. Introductory Chemistry: an Active Learning
Approach. Boston, MA, USA: Cengage Learning.

Gaffney, Jeffrey, and Nancy Marley. 2017. General Chemistry for Engineers. Saint Louis:
Elsevier.

Raymond, Kenneth William. 2014. General Organic and Biological Chemistry: An Integrated
Approach. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Silberberg, Martin S. 2013. Principles of General Chemistry. New York: McGraw Hill.

Key to Try It!

1. NH3
2. 8.29 g MgO
3. Balanced chemical equation:

2.19 g AlCl3
4. 372.3 mol Al
5. 0.28 g CuCl2
6. 40.6 g K2CO3, 12.6 g CO2


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Unit 9: Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions

Learn about It! 3

Key Points 22

Check Your Understanding 22

Challenge Yourself 24

Key to Try It! 25

Determining the Limiting and the

Learning Objectives DepEd Competency

● Determine the limiting and excess

Snail Mail 5 minutes

Learn about It!

How can one determine the limiting and excess

How many more atoms of sodium would be needed

The balanced chemical equation and the moles of sodium hydroxide

and sulfuric acid are given.

moles, we need to know the molar masses of MoO3 and Zn

The masses of CO2 and H2O are given.

The balanced chemical equation and the available masses of NaOH

and Cl2 are given.

Check Your Understanding

_______ 5. The reactant present in the least number of moles.

_____________________ 1. burning wood in a bonﬁre

_____________________ 2. actors auditioning for roles in a movie

_____________________ 5. decomposition of baking powder in the cake batter to

C. A diagram of the reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen is shown. Study

Limiting Amount of Excess

3 molecules 1 molecule 2 molecules None None

9 molecules 9 molecules 6 molecules H2 3 molecules of N2

5.00 mol 7.00 mol (4) (5) (6)

10.0 g 20.0 g (7) (8) (9)

Answer the following questions.

Key to Try It!

3. Balanced chemical equation:

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