(TG) Limiting Reactants! FUNFUNFUN.

LIMITING REACTANTS.

Before we dive into the wonderful world of Chemistry I believe it is important to first understand exactly what a limiting reactant is. With limiting reactants it is best, and most important to understand exactly what are you doing, as opposed to just memorizing a process. 

A limiting reactant, is one of the reactants in a chemical reaction that gets used up in the rxn first, and "limits" the rest of the reaction. A great comparison to this process in chemistry appears in our cafeteria: On pancake day one meal consists of:

1. 2 pancakes 
2. 1 sausage

Every single breakfast has to have these components. Now if we have 30 sausages and 2 pancakes how many meals can we make? Only one! Then pancakes are the limiting reactants because they limit/prevent the making of any further breakfasts. The same is true in chemical reactions.

Now on to some examples:


Identify the limiting reactant when 1.22 g of 0(2) reacts with 1.05 t of H(2) to produce H(2)0

2H(2) + 0(2) = 2H(2)O

1.22g x mol/ 32g x 2/1 x 2 = .15g

Now because we only need .15 g of H and we have 1.05 g of it. We know that Hydrogen is NOT the limiting reactant leaving Oxygen as our only option :)!