Solving moles-to-moles limiting reactant problems

Question

Methane CH4 gas and oxygen O2 gas react to form carbon dioxide CO2 gas and water H2O vapor. Suppose you have 7.0 mol of CH4 and 1.0 mol of O2 in a reactor.Calculate the largest amount of CO2

that could be produced. Round your answer to the nearest 0.1

 mol

.

mol

Answer 1

One way to determine the limiting reactant is to divide the moles of each reactant by the corresponding coefficient in the balanced equation.

CH₄ + 2O₂ ==> CO₂ + 2H₂O ... BALANCED EQUATION

For CH₄: 7.0 mol /1 = 7

For O₂: 1.0 mol / 2 = 0.5

So, O₂ is LIMITING since 0.5 is less than 7

Largest amount of CO₂ that can form = 1.0 mol O₂ x 1 mol CO₂ / 2 mol O₂ = 0.5 mol CO₂