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Limiting reagents and percent yield

How to determine the limiting reagent, and using stoichiometry to calculate the theoretical and
percent yield.
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Limiting reagent and theoretical yield


It’s a classic conundrum: We have five hot dogs and four hot dog buns. How
many complete hot dogs can we make?

A reaction with five hot dogs and four hot dog buns reacting to give four
complete hot dogs and one leftover hot dog. The hot dog buns are the limiting
reagent, and the leftover single hot dog is the excess reagent. The four
complete hot dogs are the theoretical yield.

Assuming the hot dogs and buns combine in a one-to-one ratio, we will be
limited by the number of hot dog buns we have since we will run out of buns
first. In this less than ideal situation, we would call the hot dog buns
the limiting reagent or limiting reactant.

In a chemical reaction, the limiting reagent is the reactant that determines


how much of the products are made. The other reactants are sometimes
referred to as being in excess, since there will be some leftover after the
limiting reagent is completely used up. The maximum amount of product that
can be produced is called the theoretical yield. In the case of the hot dogs
and hot dog buns, our theoretical yield is four complete hot dogs, since we
have four hot dog buns. Enough about hot dogs, though! In the following
example we will identify the limiting reagent and calculate the theoretical
yield for an actual chemical reaction.
Problem solving tip: The first and most important step for any
stoichiometric calculation—such as finding the limiting reagent or theoretical
yield—is to start with a balanced reaction! Since our calculations use ratios
based on the stoichiometric coefficients, our answers will be incorrect if the
stoichiometric coefficients are not right.

Example 1: Finding the limiting reagent


For the following reaction, what is the limiting reagent if we start with
2.80g of \text {Al}AlA, l and 4.25g of \text {Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript,
2, end subscript?

2 \text{Al}(s)+ 3\text{Cl}_2(g) \rightarrow 2


\text{AlCl}_3(s)2Al(s)+3Cl2(g)→2AlCl3(s)2, A, l, left parenthesis,
s, right parenthesis, plus, 3, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, left
parenthesis, g, right parenthesis, right arrow, 2, A, l, C, l, start subscript, 3,
end subscript, left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis

First, let’s check if our reaction is balanced: we have two \text{Al}AlA,


l atoms and six \text{Cl}ClC, l atoms on both sides of the arrow, so we are
good to go! In this problem, we know the mass of both reactants, and we
would like to know which one will get used up first. In the first step, we will
convert everything to moles, and then we will use the stoichiometric ratio
from the balanced reaction to find the limiting reagent.

Step 1: Convert amounts to moles.


We can convert the masses of \text {Al}AlA, l and \text {Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript to moles using molecular weights:
\text{moles of Al}=2.80 \,\cancel{\text {g Al}} \times
\dfrac{1\,\text{mol Al}}{26.98 \,\cancel{\text {g Al}}}= 1.04
\times 10^{-1}\,\text {mol
Al}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\text{(Convert g Al to mol
Al)}moles of Al=2.80g Al×26.98g Al1mol Al
=1.04×10−1mol Al (Convert g Al to mol Al)
\text{moles of Cl}_2=4.25 \,\cancel{\text {g Cl}_2} \times
\dfrac{1\,\text{mol Cl}_2}{70.90 \,\cancel{\text {g Cl}_2}}=
5.99 \times 10^{-2} \,\text {mol
Cl}_2~~~~~~~~~\text{(Convert g Cl}_2 \text{ to mol
Cl}_2)moles of Cl2=4.25g Cl2×70.90g Cl21mol Cl2
=5.99×10−2mol Cl2 (Convert g Cl2 to mol Cl2)

Step 2: Find the limiting reagent using the


stoichiometric ratio.
Now that our known quantities are in moles, there are multiple ways to find
the limiting reagent. We will show three methods here. They all give the
same answer, so you can choose your favorite. All three methods use the
stoichiometric ratio in slightly different ways.

METHOD 1: The first method is to calculate the actual molar ratio of the
reactants, and then compare the actual ratio to the stoichiometric ratio from
the balanced reaction.

\text{Actual ratio}=\dfrac{\text{moles of Al}}{\text{moles of


Cl}}_2=\dfrac{1.04 \times 10^{-1}\,\text {mol Al}}{5.99 \times
10^{-2} \,\text {mol Cl}_2}=\dfrac{1.74 \,\text{mol
Al}}{\text{1 mol Cl}_2}Actual ratio=moles of Clmoles of Al2
=5.99×10−2mol Cl21.04×10−1mol Al=1 mol Cl21.74mol AlA, c, t,
u, a, l, space, r, a, t, i, o, equals, start fraction, m, o, l, e, s, space, o, f, space,
A, l, divided by, m, o, l, e, s, space, o, f, space, C, l, end fraction, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, equals, start fraction, 1, point, 04, times, 10, start
superscript, minus, 1, end superscript, space, m, o, l, space, A, l, divided by,
5, point, 99, times, 10, start superscript, minus, 2, end superscript, space, m,
o, l, space, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, end fraction, equals, start
fraction, 1, point, 74, space, m, o, l, space, A, l, divided by, 1, space, m, o, l,
space, C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, end fraction

The actual ratio tells us that we have 1.74 mol of \text{Al}AlA, l for every 1
mol of \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript. In comparison, the
stoichiometric ratio from our balanced reaction is below:

\text{Stoichiometric ratio}=\dfrac{2 \,\text{mol Al}}{3 \,\text


{mol Cl}_2}=\dfrac{0.67 \,\text{mol Al}}{1\,\text{mol
Cl}_2}Stoichiometric ratio=3mol Cl22mol Al=1mol Cl2
0.67mol AlS, t, o, i, c, h, i, o, m, e, t, r, i, c, space, r, a, t, i, o, equals, start
fraction, 2, space, m, o, l, space, A, l, divided by, 3, space, m, o, l, space, C, l,
start subscript, 2, end subscript, end fraction, equals, start fraction, 0, point,
67, space, m, o, l, space, A, l, divided by, 1, space, m, o, l, space, C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, end fraction

This means we need at least 0.67 moles of \text{Al}AlA, l for every mole
of \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript. Since our actual ratio
is greater than our stoichiometric ratio, we have more \text{Al}AlA, l than
we need to react with each mole of \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript. Therefore, \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript is
our limiting reagent and \text{Al}AlA, l is in excess.
METHOD 2: A more guess-and-check way you can figure out the limiting
reactant is by picking one of the reactants—it doesn’t matter which one—and
pretending that it is the limiting reagent. We can then calculate the moles of
the other reagent needed based on the moles of our pretend limiting reagent.
For example, if we pretend that \text {Al}AlA, l is the limiting reagent, we
would calculate the required amount of \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2,
end subscript as follows:

\text {moles of Cl}_2=1.04 \times 10^{-1}\,\cancel{\text {mol


Al} }\times \dfrac{3\,\text {mol Cl}_2}{2 \,\cancel{\text {mol
Al}}}=1.56\times 10^{-1}\,\text{mol Cl}_2moles of Cl2
=1.04×10−1mol Al×2mol Al3mol Cl2=1.56×10−1mol Cl2
Based on this calculation, we would need 1.56\times 10^{-1}\,\text{mol
Cl}_21.56×10−1mol Cl21, point, 56, times, 10, start superscript, minus, 1, end
superscript, space, m, o, l, space, C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript if \text{Al}AlA, l is actually the limiting reagent. Since we
have 5.99 \times 10^{-2} \,\text {mol Cl}_25.99×10−2mol Cl25, point, 99,
times, 10, start superscript, minus, 2, end superscript, space, m, o, l, space, C,
l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, which is less than 1.56\times 10^{-
1}\,\text{mol Cl}_21.56×10−1mol Cl21, point, 56, times, 10, start superscript,
minus, 1, end superscript, space, m, o, l, space, C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript, our calculation tells us that we would run out of \text {Cl}_2Cl2C,
l, start subscript, 2, end subscript before we fully reacted all of
the \text{Al}AlA, l. Therefore, \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript is our limiting reagent.

METHOD 3: The third method uses the concept of a mole of reaction,


which is abbreviated as mol-rxn. One mole of reaction is defined as occurring
when the number of moles given by the coefficients in your balanced
equation react. That definition can sound rather confusing, but the idea is
hopefully more clear in the context of our example. In the current reaction,
we would say that 1 mole of reaction is when 2 moles of \text{Al}AlA,
l react with 3 moles of \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript to
produce 2 moles of \text{AlCl}_3AlCl3A, l, C, l, start subscript, 3, end
subscript, which we can also write as

1\,\text{mol-rxn}=2\,\text{mol Al}=3\,\text{mol
Cl}_2=2\,\text{mol AlCl}_31mol-rxn=2mol Al=3mol Cl2
=2mol AlCl31, space, m, o, l, negative, r, x, n, equals, 2, space, m, o, l,
space, A, l, equals, 3, space, m, o, l, space, C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript, equals, 2, space, m, o, l, space, A, l, C, l, start subscript, 3, end
subscript

We can use the above relationship to set up ratios to convert the moles of
each reactant to moles of reaction:

1.04 \times 10^{-1}\,\cancel{\text {mol Al}}\times


\dfrac{1\,\text{mol-rxn}}{2 \,\cancel{\text {mol Al}}}= 5.20
\times 10^{-2}\,\text {mol-rxn}~~~~~~~~~~~~\text{(Convert
mol Al to mol-rxn)}1.04×10−1mol Al×2mol Al1mol-rxn
=5.20×10−2mol-rxn (Convert mol Al to mol-rxn)
5.99 \times 10^{-2} \,\cancel{\text {mol Cl}_2} \times
\dfrac{1\,\text{mol-rxn}}{3 \,\cancel{\text {mol Cl}_2}}=2.00
\times 10^{-2} \,\text {mol-rxn}~~~~~~~~\text{(Convert mol
Cl}_2 \text{ to mol-rxn)}5.99×10−2mol Cl2×3mol Cl21mol-rxn
=2.00×10−2mol-rxn (Convert mol Cl2 to mol-rxn)
The more moles of reaction you have, the more times the reaction can occur.
Therefore, the reactant with fewer moles of reaction is the limiting reagent
since the reaction can be carried out fewer times with that reactant. We see
that this method also verifies that \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript is our limiting reagent because it makes 2.00 \times 10^{-2} \,\text
{mol-rxn}2.00×10−2mol-rxn2, point, 00, times, 10, start superscript, minus,
2, end superscript, space, m, o, l, negative, r, x, n, which is less than 5.20
\times 10^{-2}\,\text {mol-rxn}5.20×10−2mol-rxn5, point, 20, times, 10, start
superscript, minus, 2, end superscript, space, m, o, l, negative, r, x,
n from \text{Al}AlA, l.

Example 2: Calculating theoretical yield


Now that we know the limiting reagent, we can use that information to
answer the following question:

What is the theoretical yield of \text {AlCl}_3AlCl3A, l, C, l, start


subscript, 3, end subscript that the reaction can produce when we start
with 4.25 g of \text {Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, our
limiting reagent?

We can use the moles of limiting reagent plus the stoichiometric ratios from
our balanced reaction to calculate the theoretical yield. The coefficients from
the balanced reaction tell us that for every 3 mol of \text{Cl}_2Cl2C, l, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, we should make 2 mol of \text{AlCl}_3AlCl3A, l,
C, l, start subscript, 3, end subscript. Therefore, the theoretical yield, in
moles, is

\text{Theoretical yield in moles}=5.99 \times 10^{-


2}\,\cancel{\text {mol Cl}_2} \times \dfrac{2\,\text {mol
AlCl}_3}{3 \,\cancel{\text {mol Cl}_2}}=3.99\times 10^{-
2}\,\text {mol
AlCl}_3Theoretical yield in moles=5.99×10−2mol Cl2×3mol Cl2
2mol AlCl3=3.99×10−2mol AlCl3
The theoretical yield is usually expected to have units of mass, so we can
convert moles of \text{AlCl}_3AlCl3A, l, C, l, start subscript, 3, end
subscript to grams using the molecular weight:

\text{Theoretical yield in grams}=3.99 \times 10^{-


2}\,\cancel{\text {mol AlCl}_3} \times \dfrac{133.33\,\text {g
AlCl}_3}{1 \,\cancel{\text {mol AlCl}_3}}= 5.32\,\text{g
AlCl}_3Theoretical yield in grams=3.99×10−2mol AlCl3
×1mol AlCl3133.33g AlCl3=5.32g AlCl3

Percent yield
The theoretical yield is the maximum amount of product you would expect
from a reaction based on the amount of limiting reagent. In practice,
however, chemists don’t always obtain the maximum yield for many reasons.
When running a reaction in the lab, loss of product often occurs during
purification or isolation steps. You might even decide it is worth losing 10%
of your product during an extra purification step because it is more important
to have extremely pure product—as opposed to having a larger amount of
less pure product.

Burgler cat with stripes and eye mask holding a stolen hot dog bun.
Oh no, a cat-burglar stole a hot dog bun! That makes the actual yield three complete hot dogs. If our theoretical
yield was four complete hot dogs, what is our percent yield?
Despite how nice and tidy a balanced reaction appears, reactants can also
react in unexpected and undesirable ways such as doing an entirely different
reaction—sometimes called a side reaction—to give products that we don't
want. Your actual yield may change based on factors such as the relative
stability of reactants and products, the purity of the chemicals used, or the
humidity on a given day. In some cases, you might be left with all starting
materials and no products after your reaction. The possibilities are endless!

Since chemists know that the actual yield might be less than the theoretical
yield, we report the actual yield using percent yield, which tells us what
percentage of the theoretical yield we obtained. This ratio can be very
valuable to other people who might try your reaction. The percent yield is
determined using the following equation:

\text{percent yield} = \dfrac{\text{actual


yield}}{\text{theoretical yield}} \times
100\%percent yield=theoretical yieldactual yield×100%p, e, r, c,
e, n, t, space, y, i, e, l, d, equals, start fraction, a, c, t, u, a, l, space, y, i, e, l, d,
divided by, t, h, e, o, r, e, t, i, c, a, l, space, y, i, e, l, d, end fraction, times,
100, percent

Since percent yield is a percentage, you would normally expect to have a


percent yield between zero and 100. If your percent yield is greater than 100,
that probably means you calculated or measured something incorrectly.

Example 3. Calculating theoretical and percent


yield
The following reaction is performed with 1.56g of \text {BaCl}_2BaCl2B, a,
C, l, start subscript, 2, end subscript, which is the limiting reagent. We isolate
1.82g of our desired product, \text {AgCl}AgClA, g, C, l.

\text {BaCl}_2(aq)+2 \text{AgNO}_3(aq) \rightarrow


2\text{AgCl}(s)+\text{Ba(NO}_3)_2(aq)BaCl2(aq)+2AgNO3
(aq)→2AgCl(s)+Ba(NO3)2(aq)B, a, C, l, start subscript, 2, end
subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis, plus, 2, A, g, N, O, start
subscript, 3, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis, right
arrow, 2, A, g, C, l, left parenthesis, s, right parenthesis, plus, B, a, left
parenthesis, N, O, start subscript, 3, end subscript, right parenthesis, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, left parenthesis, a, q, right parenthesis

What is the percent yield of the reaction?

First, we check to see if the reaction is balanced. It looks like we have equal
numbers of all atoms on both sides, so now we can move on to calculating
the theoretical yield.

Step 1. Find moles of limiting reagent.


We can calculate the moles of limiting reagent \text {BaCl}_2BaCl2B, a, C, l,
start subscript, 2, end subscript using the molecular weight:

1.56\,\cancel{\text {g BaCl}_2} \times \dfrac{1\,\text{mol


BaCl}_2}{208.23\, \cancel{\text{g BaCl}_2}} =7.49 \times
10^{-3} \,\text {mol BaCl}_21.56g BaCl2×208.23g BaCl2
1mol BaCl2=7.49×10−3mol BaCl2

Step 2. Calculate moles of product.


We can calculate how many moles of \text {AgCl}AgClA, g, C, l we would
expect to make using the stoichiometric factor from the balanced equation.
The balanced equation tells us that we expect 2 moles of \text{AgCl}AgClA,
g, C, l for every 1 mole of \text{BaCl}_2BaCl2B, a, C, l, start subscript, 2,
end subscript:

7.49 \times 10^{-3} \,\cancel{\text {mol BaCl}_2} \times


\dfrac{2\,\text{mol AgCl}}{1\, \cancel{\text{mol BaCl}_2}}
=1.50 \times 10^{-2} \text{mol AgCl}7.49×10−3mol BaCl2
×1mol BaCl22mol AgCl=1.50×10−2mol AgCl

Step 3. Convert moles of product to grams.


We can convert moles of \text{AgCl}AgClA, g, C, l to the mass, in grams,
using the molecular weight, which will give us the theoretical yield in grams:

1.50 \times 10^{-2} \,\cancel{\text {mol AgCl}} \times


\dfrac{143.32\, \text{g AgCl}}{1\,\cancel{\text{mol
AgCl}}}=2.15 \,\text{g AgCl}1.50×10−2mol AgCl×1mol AgCl
143.32g AgCl=2.15g AgCl
We can use the theoretical yield and actual yield to calculate the percent yield
using the following equation:

\begin{aligned}\text{percent yield}& = \dfrac{\text{actual


yield}}{\text{theoretical yield}} \times 100\%\\ \\
&=\dfrac{1.82 \,\text{g AgCl}}{2.15 \,\text{g AgCl}} \times
100\%\\ \\ &= 84.6\% \,\text{yield}\end{aligned}percent yield
=theoretical yieldactual yield×100%=2.15g AgCl1.82g AgCl
×100%=84.6%yield
Summary
The limiting reagent is the reactant that gets used up first during the reaction
and also determines how much product can be made. We can find the
limiting reagent using the stoichiometric ratios from the balanced chemical
reaction along with one of the many nifty methods in Example 1.

Once we know the limiting reagent, we can calculate the maximum amount
of product possible, which is called the theoretical yield. Since the actual
amount of product is often less than the theoretical yield, chemists also
calculate the percent yield using the ratio between the experimental and
theoretical yield.

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