Year 12 ATAR Chemistry

Stoichiometry and Limiting Reagents Name:____________

-The coefficients in a chemical equation give us the molar ratios in which the reactants are consumed and
the products are produced

-For chemical synthesis, this allows us to calculate the amount of product able to be produced for a given
amount of reactants (or vice versa)

eg N2 + 3H2 à 2NH3 tells us that 1 mol of nitrogen and 3mol of hydrogen are required to produce 2 mol of
ammonia

-In reality, it is practically impossible to combine reactants in stoichiometric amounts

-The reactant that is consumed first, limiting the degree to which the reaction proceeds, is known as the
limiting reagent

-The limiting reagent must be used for any stoichiometric calculations, as it determines how much product
will be formed and how much of the other reactants will be consumed

-To calculate which is the limiting reagent for the reaction represented by the following equation where
lower case letters are coefficients and uppercase letters are formulae:

wW + xX à yY + zZ
SR (stoichiometric ratio) = w/x AR (actual ratio) = n(W)/n(X)
If AR > SR, W is in excess and X is the limiting reagent
If AR< SR, X is in excess and W is the limiting reagent

Example: 1.5 kg H2SO4 was accidentally spilled on the lab floor. A clever year 12 student immediately realised that
she can neutralise it with NaOH. She found 2.00 kg of this base, made a solution and add that to the acid. Let’s
assume the reaction was complete. Determine the limiting reagent and then calculate the mass of the salt that will
be produced.
Mass NaOH
Determine limiting reagent Mole Na2SO4 Mass Na2SO4
Mass H2SO4

Step 1: Balanced equation 2NaOH + H2SO4 ® Na2SO4 + 2H2O

Step 2: Calculate the moles of each reactant
n(H2SO4) = m = 1.5 x 103 = 15.3 mol NaOH 50.0
actual ratio = = = 3.3
M 98.076 H! SO! 15.3

n(NaOH) = m = 2.00 x 103 = 50.0 mol NaOH 2

stoich ratio = = =2
H! SO! 1
M 39.998
Step 3: Compare the mole ratio since AR >SR, NaOH is excess.

2 mol NaOH reacts with 1 mol H2SO4 H 2 SO 4 is the limiting reagent.

50.0 mol NaOH reacts with 25 mol H2SO4

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Step 4: Decide the limiting reagent
Need 25 mol H2SO4 but only have 15.3 mol
Not enough H2SO4 therefore limiting reagent

2NaOH + H2SO4 à Na2SO4 + 2H2O

2 mol 1 mol 1 mol
Given 50 mol 15.3 mol
Ratio 30.6 mol 15.3 mol 15.3 mol
Excess 19.4 mol 0 mol
LR

Step 5: Identify the unknown and relate it to the limiting reagent

1 mol H2SO4 produce 1 mol Na2SO4
n(Na2SO4) = n(H2SO4) = 15.3 mol

Step 6: Convert the moles to mass

m(Na2SO4) = n x M
= 15.3 x 142.04
= 2.17 kg

-The flow chart across the page details common approaches to solving stoichiometry problems, including
those where a limiting reagent is present

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Problem set 1

1. Hydrochloric acid containing 10.0 g of HCl was reacted with 10.0 g of calcium carbonate to produce carbon
dioxide gas. Determine:

a. the limiting agent

b. the mass of CO2 (g) produced.
c. the mass of unused reactant.

2. A 3.200 g sample of NaOH is added to a solution containing 1.125 g of H2SO4. Determine:

a. the limiting reagent;

b. the mass of sodium sulphate formed in solution;
c. the mass of unused reactant remaining in solution.

Calculating Percentage Yield

-When calculating quantities of substances formed in synthesis reactions, the yield of the reaction is
commonly taken into account

-The percentage yield measures the amount of product produced compared to the theoretical maximum
amount of product that could be formed if 100% of the reactants were converted into products

Percentage Yield = actual mass x 100 (note that moles of product could also be used
theoretical mass as an alternative to mass)

Problem Set 2

1. In an experiment to find the purity of a 5.642 g sample of anhydrous sodium carbonate, it was reacted with
excess hydrochloric acid. A volume of 1.170 L of CO2 gas was collect at STP. Find the purity of the Na2CO3
sample.

2. Sulphuric acid can be manufactured from iron pyrites (FeS2) by the sequence of reactions shown. Calculate
the mass of sulphuric acid which could be obtained from 100.0 kg of pure iron pyrites if the overall process is
85% efficient.

(i) 4FeS2 (s) + 11O2 (g) à 2Fe2O3 (s) + 8SO2 (g)

(ii) 2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) à 2SO3 (g)

(iii) SO3 (g) + H2O (l) à H2SO4 (l)

3. Sodium carbonate can be produced by the Solvay process which involved the following reactions:
NH3 + H2O + CO2 à NH4HCO3
NH4HCO3 + NaCl à NH4Cl + NaHCO3
2NaHCO3 à Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2
Na2CO3 + 10H2O à Na2CO3.10H2O
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 Assuming the process is 90% efficient, calculate the mass of ammonia and sodium chloride required to
produce 1000 kg of sodium carbonate-10-water.

4. A 154.4 g ore sample containing copper (I) sulphide was roasted in air and 12.25 g of copper were recovered.
The equation for the reaction is as follows:

Cu2S (s) + O2 (g) àà 2Cu (s) + SO2 (g)

Determine the % of copper (I) sulphide in the ore sample.

NOTE: Density is simply defined as the mass per unit volume:

m p = density

ρ= V m = mass of solution

V = volume of solution
• Commonly used units are kgm-3, g cm-3, gL-1, g mL-1.

• Specific gravity is sometimes given instead of density. S.G. is the ratio of a substance’s density compared to that
of water.

if S.G. = 1.45 then density = 1.45 g mL-1.

5. A car battery contains 4.0 L of sulphuric acid solution. When the battery is fully charged, the acid has a
concentration of 4.50 mol L-1 and a density of 1.45 g mL-1. Determine:

a. the mass of H2SO4 in the battery.

b. the percentage by mass of H2SO4 in the acid solution.

6. A solution of copper (II) nitrate is made up by dissolving 25.15 g of the solid in water and making the solution
up to 500.0 mL. Determine the concentration of the:

a. Cu(NO3)2 solution.
b. Cu+2 (aq) and NO3- (aq) ions.

7. A 10.0 mL sample of battery acid (H2SO4) is diluted to 250 mL and then analysed by volumetric analysis. The
diluted acid was found to have a concentration of 0.175 mol L-1.

a. Determine the concentration of the battery acid in:

(i) mol L-1
(ii) g L-1
b. Given that the density of the battery acid was found to be 1.45 g mL-1, determine the % by mass of
H2SO4 in battery acid.

8. A 1.250 g sample of NaCl is dissolved in 75.0 mL of water. To this solution 25.0 mL of 0.615 molL-1
AgNO3 solution is added. Find:

a. mass of silver chloride produced.

b. concentration of any remaining ions in mol L-1.

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9. When 20.0 mL of 0.450 mol L-1 NaOH solution is mixed with 30.0 mL of 0.540 mol L-1 magnesium chloride
solutions, a precipitate of magnesium hydroxide is produced. Calculate:

a. mass of the precipitate.

b. concentration of any remaining ions.

Problem Set 3

1. In the blast furnace the reduction of iron, pure carbon in the form of coke, C(s), is reacted with a limited
supply of oxygen gas to completely convert the coke into carbon monoxide gas. The carbon monoxide gas
then reacts with iron (III) oxide to produce liquid iron and carbon dioxide gas.

The unbalanced equation is: C (s) + O2 (g) àà CO (g) and Fe2O3 (s) + CO (g) àà Fe (l) + CO2 (g)
a. Balance and combine the two equations to show the correct mole ratio between the coke and iron
product.
b. Determine the mass of coke required to reduce all the iron (III) in 3.00 tonnes of ore which is known
to be 35.0% iron (III) oxide by weight.

2. Solid ammonium nitrite heated strongly in the absence of air decomposed into nitrogen gas and water
vapour. In an experiment 153.5 g of the compound was heated as described above.
a. Write a balanced equation for the above reaction and calculate the total volume of the gas mixture
measured at 120 oC and 90.0 kPa.

b. The gases are then bubbled through concentrated sulfuric acid to remove all the water vapour.
Calculate the final volume of the gas if the measurement takes place at STP.

3. A chemist is required to investigate a sample of water taken from the waste outlet of a chemical plant to
determine the cadmium ion concentration of the water. The chemist check her data book and notes that
cadmium sulfide and cadmium oxalate both have negligible solubility in water.

She first adds excess sodium oxalate solution to 500.0 mL of the seawater to precipitate all the cadmium
ions as cadmium (II) oxalate. It may be assumed that no other metal oxalate is precipitated in this process.
She then filters, dries and weighs the precipitate and finds it mass to be 0.501 g.

a. From the above data, determine the concentration of cadmium ions in the water sample on both
ppm (parts per million) and moles per litre.

In a second procedure, another 500.0 mL sample of water is treated with excess sodium sulfide solution to
precipitate all the cadmium ions present as cadmium sulfide. The pure cadmium sulfide is then heated in a
test tube over which hydrogen gas is passed, converting all the sulfur in the compound to hydrogen sulfide
gas. After treatment to remove any residual hydrogen gas, it was found that the hydrogen sulfide gas
occupied 56.0 mL at STP.
b. Determine from the second procedure, the concentration of cadmium ions in the water.
c. Comment on whether the two analytical procedures have yielded results consistent with the
experiment measurements taken.

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4. In the blast furnace the reduction of iron, pure carbon in the form of coke, C (s), is reacted with a limited
supply of oxygen gas to completely convert the coke into carbon monoxide gas. The carbon monoxide gas
then reacts with iron (III) oxide to produce liquid iron and carbon dioxide gas. Calcium carbonate is also
added to the blast furnace to produce calcium oxide, which then reacts with the silicon dioxide to produce
calcium silicate.
The (not necessarily) balanced equations for the reactions which occur are:

C (s) + O2 (g) àà CO (g)

Fe2O3 (s) + CO (g) àà Fe (l) + CO2 (g)
CaCO3 (s) àà CaO (s) + CO2 (g)
CaO (s) + SiO2 (s) àà CaSiO3 (l)

a. Balance and combine the first two equations to show the correct mole ratio between the coke and
iron product.
b. Determine the minimum mass of coke which should be add to the blast furnace to react with 1.00
tonne of iron ore which has an assay of 93.0 % iron (III) oxide by mass.
c. Assuming that the remaining 7.00% of the ore is silicon dioxide, determine the minimum mass of
pure limestone (calcium carbonate) which must be added to 1.00 tonne of the same ore to remove
all the silicon dioxide.

5. The production of the fertiliser, di-ammonium hydrogenphosphate, (NH4)2HPO4, from rock phosphate
(impure calcium phosphate) can be represented by the following reaction sequence.
Ca3(PO4)2 (s) + 3H2SO4 (aq) àà 2H3PO4 (aq) + 3CaSO4 (s)

H3PO4 (aq) + 2NH3 (g) àà (NH4)2HPO4

a. A particular sample of rock phosphate weighing 60.0 kg yielded 46.12 kg of diammonium

hydrogenphosphate. Calculate the percentage of calcium phosphate in the rock phosphate deposit.
Assume 100 % efficiency in the process.
b. What volume of ammonia gas at STP would be needed to bring about the above conversion, given
that 10.0 % by volume of the ammonia gas escapes and it not used in the process.

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Problem set 1 ANSWERS

1. Hydrochloric acid containing 10.0 g of HCl was reacted with 10.0 g of calcium carbonate to produce carbon
dioxide gas. Determine:
a. the limiting agent
b. the mass of CO2 (g) produced.
c. the mass of unused reactant.

2. A 3.200 g sample of NaOH is added to a solution containing 1.125 g of H2SO4. Determine:

a. the limiting reagent;

b. the mass of sodium sulphate formed in solution;
c. the mass of unused reactant remaining in solution.

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Problem set 2 ANSWERS

1. In an experiment to find the purity of a 5.642 g sample of anhydrous sodium carbonate, it was reacted with
excess hydrochloric acid. A volume of 1.170 L of CO2 gas was collect at STP. Find the purity of the Na2CO3
sample.

2. Sulphuric acid can be manufactured from iron pyrites (FeS2) by the sequence of reactions shown. Calculate
the mass of sulphuric acid which could be obtained from 100.0 kg of pure iron pyrites if the overall process is
85% efficient.

i. 4FeS2 (s) + 11O2 (g) à 2Fe2O3 (s) + 8SO2 (g)

ii. 2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) à 2SO3 (g)

iii. SO3 (g) + H2O (l) à H2SO4 (l)

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3. Sodium carbonate can be produced by the Solvay process which involved the following reactions:
NH3 + H2O + CO2 à NH4HCO3
NH4HCO3 + NaCl à NH4Cl + NaHCO3
2NaHCO3 à Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2
Na2CO3 + 10H2O à Na2CO3.10H2O
Assuming the process is 90% efficient, calculate the mass of ammonia and sodium chloride required to
produce 1000 kg of sodium carbonate-10-water.

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4. A 154.4 g ore sample containing copper (I) sulphide was roasted in air and 12.25 g of copper were recovered.
The equation for the reaction is as follows:

Cu2S (s) + O2 (g) àà 2Cu (s) + SO2 (g)

Determine the % of copper (I) sulphide in the ore sample.

NOTE: Density is simply defined as the mass per unit volume:

m p = density

ρ= V m = mass of solution

V = volume of solution
• Commonly used units are kgm-3, g cm-3, gL-1, g mL-1.

• Specific gravity is sometimes given instead of density. S.G. is the ratio of a substance’s density compared to that
of water.

if S.G. = 1.45 then density = 1.45 g mL-1.

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5. A car battery contains 4.0 L of sulphuric acid solution. When the battery is fully charged, the acid has a
concentration of 4.50 mol L-1 and a density of 1.45 g mL-1. Determine:

a. the mass of H2SO4 in the battery.

b. the percentage by mass of H2SO4 in the acid solution.

6. A 10.0 mL sample of battery acid (H2SO4) is diluted to 250 mL and then analysed by volumetric analysis. The
diluted acid was found to have a concentration of 0.175 mol L-1.

a. Determine the concentration of the battery acid in:

(i) mol L-1
(ii) g L-1
b. Given that the density of the battery acid was found to be 1.45 g mL-1, determine the % by mass
of H2SO4 in battery acid.

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7. A 1.250 g sample of NaCl is dissolved in 75.0 mL of water. To this solution 25.0 mL of 0.615 molL-1
AgNO3 solution is added. Find:

a. mass of silver chloride produced.

b. concentration of any remaining ions in mol L-1.

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8. When 20.0 mL of 0.450 mol L-1 NaOH solution is mixed with 30.0 mL of 0.540 mol L-1 magnesium chloride
solutions, a precipitate of magnesium hydroxide is produced. Calculate:

a. mass of the precipitate.

b. concentration of any remaining ions.

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Problem Set 3 ANSWERS

1. a) 2C + O2 àà 2CO
Fe2O3 + 3CO àà 2Fe + 3CO2 x3
6C + 3O2 àà 6CO x2
2Fe2O3 + 6CO àà 4Fe + 6CO2
6C + 3O2 + 2Fe2O3 àà 4Fe + 6CO2
a) m(Fe2O3) = 35.0 x 3.00 x 106 = 1.050 x 106 g
100
n(Fe2O3) = m = 1.050 x 106 = 6.575 x 103 mol
M 159.7
n(C) = 6/2 x n(Fe2O3) = 3 x 6.575 x 103 = 1.972 x 104 mol
m(C) = nM = 1.972 x 104 x 12.01 = 2.37 x 105 g

2. a) NH4NO2 àà N2 + 2H2O
n(NH4NO2) = m = 153.5 = 2.3965 mol
M 64.052
n(N2) = 1/1 x n(NH4NO3) = 2.3965 mol
n(H2O) = 2/1 x n(NH4NO3) = 4.7929 mol
V(N2) = nRT = 2.3965 x 8.314 x 393.15 = 87.04 L
P 90
V(H2O) = nRT = 4.7929 x 8.314 x 393.15 = 174.07 L or V(H2O) = 2 x V(N2)
P 90 = 174.07 L
VTotal = 87.04 + 174.07 = 261 L
b) n(N2) = 2.3965 mol
At STP V(N2) = n x 22.71 = 2.3965 x 22.71 = 54.4 L

4. a) n(CdC2O4) = m = 0.501 = 2.4997 x 10-3 mol

M 200.42
n(Cd ) = n(CdC2O4) = 2.4997 x 10-3 mol
2+

m(Cd2+) = nM = 2.4997 x 10-3 x 112.4 = 0.28097 g

ppm = m(solute) x 106 = 0.28097 x 106 = 562 ppm

m(solution) 500
c(Cd2+) = n = 2.4997 x 10-3 = 5.00 x 10-3 M
V 0.500
b) CdS + H2 àà H2S + Cd
n(H2S) = V = 0.0560 = 2.4659 x 10-3 mol
22.71 22.71
n(Cd ) = n(H2S) = 2.4659 x 10-3 mol
2+

m(Cd2+) = nM = 2.4659 x 10-3 x 112.4 = 0.27716 g

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 ppm = m(solute) x 106 = 0.27716 x 106 = 554 ppm
m(solution) 500
c(Cd2+) = n = 2.4659 x 10-3 = 4.93 x 10-3 M
V 0.500

c) Results are within 2% of each other, therefore consistent.

4. a) 2C + O2 àà 2CO
Fe2O3 + 3CO àà 2Fe + 3CO2 x3
6C + 3O2 àà 6CO x2
2Fe2O3 + 6CO àà 4Fe + 6CO2
6C + 3O2 + 2Fe2O3 àà 4Fe + 6CO2
b) m(Fe2O3) = 93.0 x 106 = 930 000 g
100
n(Fe2O3) = m = 930 000 = 5823.4 mol
M 159.7
n(C) = 6/2 x n(Fe2O3) = 3 x 5823.4 = 17 470 mol
m(C) = nM = 17 470 x 12.01 = 2.20 x 105 g

c) m(SiO2) = 7 x 1000 000 = 70 000g

100
n(SiO2) = m = 70 000 = 1165 mol
M 60.09
n(CaCO3) = n(SiO2) = 1165 mol
m(CaCO3) = nM = 1165 x 100.09 = 1.17 x 105 g

5. a) Ca3(PO4)2 + 3H2SO4 àà 2H3PO4 + 3CaSO4

2H3PO4 + 2NH3 àà 2(NH4)2HPO4

n[(NH4)2HPO4] = m = 46 120 = 349.2 mol

M 132.062
n(Ca3(PO4)2) = ½ x n[(NH4)2HPO4] = 174.6 mol
m(Ca3(PO4)2) = nM = 174.6 x 310.18 = 54.157 kg
% purity = m(Ca3(PO4)2) x 100 = 54.157 = 90.3%

m(rock phosphate) 60.0

b) n(NH3) = 2/1 x n[(NH4)2HPO4] = 698.5 mol

V(NH3) = n x 22.71 = 698.5 x 22.71 = 15 862 L
given 10% escape, need 10% extra (90% efficient)
i.e. V(NH3) = 15 862 x 100 = 17.6 kL
90

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