Question

Urea (CH4N2O) is a common fertilizer that can be synthesized by the reaction of ammonia (NH3) with carbon dioxide as follows: 2NH3(aq)+CO2(aq)→CH4N2O(aq)+H2O(l) In an industrial synthesis of urea, a chemist combines 135.7 kg of ammonia with 211.4 kg of carbon dioxide and obtains 163.6 kg of urea. Part A Determine the limiting reactant. Express your answer as a chemical formula.

Answer 1

NH3

Step-by-step explanation:

2NH3(aq)+CO2(aq)→CH4N2O(aq)+H2O(l)

So for two moles of NH3 we need one mole of CO2. So let's count moles for each reagent.

n(NH3)=m(NH3)/M(NH3)=135700/17,03=7968.29 mol

n(CO2)=m(CO2)/M(CO2)=211400/44.01=4803.45 mol

From equation we have to divide n(NH3) by 2 because we need two equivalent per one CO2. That will be 3984.145. So the limiting agent is NH3 because it's not enough of it to react with all CO2