Question

For the following reaction, 0.156 moles of sulfuric acid are mixed with 0.567 moles of calcium hydroxide.

Answer 1

The first step is to write the reaction using the molecular formulas of the substances:

`H_2SO_4+Ca(OH)_2\rightarrow CaSO_4+2H_2O`

Now that the equation is balanced, we have to divide the amount of each reactant by its stoichiometric coefficient, that in this case is 1 for both of them:

`\begin{gathered} (0.156mol)/(1)=0.156mol \\ (0.567mol)/(1)=0.567mol \end{gathered}`

The least result will indicate the limiting reagent, which in this case is sulfuric acid. It means that its formula is H2SO4.

Basing our calculations in this reagent, we can find the maximum amount of calcium sulfate that is produced:

`0.156molH_2SO_4\cdot(1molCaSO_4)/(1molH_2SO_4)=0.156molCaSO_4`

It means that the maximum amount of calcium sulfate that can be produced is 0.156 moles.