Question

Which of the following is the limiting reactant when 3.0 g of NO and 3.0 g of CO are reacting?

a) NO
b) CO
c) Both NO and CO
d) Neither NO nor CO

Answer 1

The limiting reactant is NO because it is present in a smaller amount compared to the stoichiometric ratio.

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to determine the limiting reactant, we need to compare the moles of each reactant and their molar ratios in the balanced equation. From the given data, we can convert the mass of each reactant to moles using their molar masses. For NO, the molar mass is 30 g/mol, so we have 3.0 g / 30 g/mol = 0.1 mol of NO. For CO, the molar mass is 28 g/mol, so we have 3.0 g / 28 g/mol = 0.107 mol of CO.

The balanced equation for the reaction is:

2 NO + 2 CO -> N2 + 2 CO2

The molar ratio of NO to CO is 2:2, or 1:1. Since we have 0.1 mol of NO and 0.107 mol of CO, we can see that NO is the limiting reactant since we have less of it compared to the stoichiometric ratio.