Limiting Reagents and Percent Yield

If one of our ingredients gets used up during our preparation it is called the limiting reactant (LR) The LR limits the amount of product we can form It is equally impossible for a chemist to make a certain amount of a desired compound if there isnt enough of one of the reactants.

As weve been learning, a balanced chemical rxn is a chemists recipe.

Which allows the chemist to predict the amount of product formed from the amounts of ingredients available

Lets look at the reaction equation for the formation of ammonia: N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g)
When 1 mole of N2 reacts with 3 moles of H2, 2 moles of NH3 are produced. How much NH3 could be made if 2 moles of N2 were reacted with 3 moles of H2?

N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g) The amount of H2 limits the amount of NH3 that can be made.
From the amount of N2 available we can make 4 moles of NH3 From the amount of H2 available we can only make 2 moles of NH3. It runs out before the N2 is used up.

H2 is our limiting reactant here.

Therefore, at the end of the reaction there should be N2 left over.

When there is reactant left over it is said to be in excess.

How much N2 will be left over after the reaction?

In our rxn it takes 1 mol of N2 to react all of 3 mols of H2, so there must be 1 mol of N2 that remains unreacted.

We can use our new stoich calculation skills to determine 3 possible types of LR type calculations.

1. Determine which of the reactants will run out first (limiting reactant) 2. Determine amount of product 3. Determine how much excess reactant is wasted

Limiting Reactant Problems: Given the following reaction: 2Cu + S Cu2S What is the limiting reactant when 82.0 g of Cu reacts with 25.0 g S? What is the maximum amount of Cu2S that can be formed? How much of the other reactant is wasted?

Our 1st goal is to calculate how much S would react if all of the Cu was reacted. From that we can determine the limiting reactant (LR). Then we can use the Limiting Reactant to calculate the amount of product formed and the amount of excess reactant left over.
82g Cu mol Cu mol S g S

2Cu + S Cu2S
82.0gCu 1molCu 1mol S 32.1g S

63.5gCu

2molCu

1mol S

=20.7 g S So if all of our 82.0g of Copper were reacted completely it would require only 20.7 grams of Sulfur.
Since we initially had 25g of S, we are going to run out of the Cu, the limiting reactant) & end up with 4.3 grams of S

Copper being our Limiting Reactant is then used to determine how much product is produced.

The amount of Copper we initially start with limits the amount of product we can make.

1molCu 1molCu2S ________ 159gCu2S 82.0gCu 1molCu2S 63.5gCu 2molCu = 103 g Cu2S

So the reaction between 82.0g of Cu and 25.0g of S can only produce 103g of Cu2S.
The Cu runs out before the S and we will end up wasting 4.7 g of the S.

Ex 2: Hydrogen gas can be produced in the lab by the rxn of Magnesium metal with HCl according to the following rxn equation: Mg + 2HCl MgCl2 + H2

What is the LR when 6.0 g HCl reacts with 5.0 g Mg? What is the maximum amount of H2 that can be formed? And how much of the other reactant is wasted?

5.0g Mg mol Mg 2mol HCl g HCl 5.0g Mg 1molMg

2molHCl 1molMg

36.5gHCl
1molHCl

24.3gMg

= 15.0g HCl So if 5.0g of Mg were used up it would take 15.0g HCl, but we only had 6.0g of HCl to begin with.
Therefore, the 6.0g of HCl will run out before the 5.0g of Mg, so HCl is our Limiting Reactant.

6.0g HCl 2mol HCl 1mol H2 g H2 6.0g HCl 1molHCl

1molH2
2molHCl

2.0gH2 1molH2

36.5gHCl

= 0.164 g H2 produced 6.0g HCl 2mol HCl 1mol Mg g Mg 6.0g HCl

1molHCl
36.5gHCl

1molMg 2molHCl

24.3gMg

1molMg

= 1.997 g Mg - 5.0 g Mg = 3.01g Mg extra

Calculating Percent Yield

In theory, when a teacher gives an exam to the class, every student should get a grade of 100%. Your exam grade, expressed as a percent, is a quantity that shows how well you did on the exam compared with how well you could have done if you had answered all questions correctly

This calc is similar to the percent yield calc that you do in the lab when the product from a chemical rxn is less than you expected based on the balanced eqn. You might have assumed that if we use stoich to calculate that our rxn will produce 5.2 g of product, that we will actually recover 5.2 g of product in the lab. This assumption is as faulty as assuming that all students will score 100% on an exam.

When an equation is used to calculate the amount of product that is possible during a rxn, a value representing the theoretical yield is obtained. The theoretical yield is the maximum amount of product that could be formed from given amounts of reactants. In contrast, the amount of product that forms when the rxn is carried out in the lab is called the actual yield. The actual yield is often less than the theoretical yield.

 The percent yield is the ratio of the actual yield to the theoretical yield as a percent
It measures the efficiency of the reaction

Percent yield=

actual yield theoretical yield

x 100

What causes a percent yield to be less than 100%? greater than 100%? actual is less than theoretical < 100% actual is more than theoretical > 100%

Rxns dont always go to completion; when this occurs, less than the expected amnt of product is formed.
Impure reactants and competing side rxns may cause unwanted products to form. Actual yield can also be lower than the theoretical yield due to a loss of product during filtration or transferring between containers. If a wet precipitate is recovered it might weigh heavy due to incomplete drying, etc.

Calcium carbonate is synthesized by heating,as shown in the following equation: CaO + CO2 CaCO3

What is the theoretical yield of CaCO3 if 24.8 g of CaO is heated with 43.0 g of CO2? What is the percent yield if 33.1 g of CaCO3 is produced?
Determine which reactant is the limiting and then decide what the theoretical yield is.

24.8gCaOmolCaO mol CO2 gCO2

24.8 g 1molCaO 1mol CO2 CaO 56g CaO 1mol CaO

44 g CO2
1molCO2

LR

= 19.5gCO2

24.8gCaOmolCaO mol CaCO3 gCaCO3

24.8 g 1mol CaO 1molCaCO3 100g CaCO3 CaO 56g CaO 1mol CaO 1molCaCO3

= 44.3 g CaCO3

CaO is our LR, so the reaction should theoretically produce 44.3 g of CaCO3 (How efficient were we?) Our percent yield is: Percent yield= 33.1 g CaCO3 _____________ x 100 44.3 g CaCO3

Percent yield = 74.7%

Limiting Reactant Practice

15.0 g of potassium reacts with 15.0 g of iodine. Calculate which reactant is limiting and how much product is made in grams. 2 K + I2 2KI

Finding the Amount of Excess

By calculating the amount of the excess reactant needed to completely react with the limiting reactant, we can subtract that amount from the given amount to find the amount of excess. Can we find the amount of excess potassium in the previous problem?

Finding Excess Practice

15.0 g of potassium reacts with 15.0 g of iodine.

2 K + I2 2 KI
We found that Iodine is the limiting reactant, and 19.6 g of potassium iodide are produced.
15.0 g I2 1 mol I2
254 g I2

2 mol K
1 mol I2

39.1 g K
1 mol K

= 4.62 g K USED!

15.0 g K 4.62 g K = 10.38 g K EXCESS

Given amount of Amount of excess reactant excess reactant actually used

Note that we started with the limiting reactant! Once you determine the LR, you should only start with it!

Limiting Reactant: Recap

1. You can recognize a limiting reactant problem because there is MORE THAN ONE GIVEN AMOUNT. 2. Convert ALL of the reactants to the SAME product (pick any product you choose.) 3. The lowest answer is the correct answer. 4. The reactant that gave you the lowest answer is the LIMITING REACTANT. 5. The other reactant(s) are in EXCESS. 6. To find the amount of excess, subtract the amount used from the given amount. 7. If you have to find more than one product, be sure to start with the limiting reactant. You dont have to determine which is the LR over and over again!