I need help on a stoichiometry

Question

    How many moles of iron metal are produced when 3.2 mol iron (III) oxide and 2.3 mol carbon monoxide react?       Fe₂O₃  + 3CO ---->  2Fe + 3CO₂

 

Answer 1

The keys to solving a problem like this involve a few important steps:

1. Step One: Stoichiometry! Ensure there are the same number of each atom on each side of the arrow. In this case, we have 2 Iron, 3 Carbon, and 6 Oxygen on each side. (This is important for the next step!)
2.  1Fe₂O₃  + 3CO ---->  2Fe + 3CO₂
3. Step Two: Determine the Limiting Reactant. In this case, we require 3 CO's for every 1 Fe₂O₃. We are given significantly less Carbon Monoxide than Iron Oxide. We can see that CO will be our limiting reactant.
4. In order to fully react the 3.2 moles of Iron Oxide, we would need 3(3.2 mol) = 9.6 mol CO
5. In order to fully react the 2.3 moles Carbon Monoxide, we only need 2.3/3 = 0.77 mole Fe₂O₃
6. Step 3: Use Molar Ratios and Dimensional Analysis to determine the yield of Fe, using our Limiting Reactant and the stoichiometry as our guide.
7.  Fe₂O₃  + 3CO ---->  2Fe + 3CO₂
8. Mole ratio comes from the stoichiometry. 3CO are used to produce 2Fe
9. ( 2.3 mol CO * 2 mol Fe produced ) / (3 mol CO used) = 1.53 mol Fe Produced