Question

Assuming there was 1.00 g of H₂S floating around in the air, and you had a 2.00 g of pure silver, and there was nothing else preventing them from reacting completely, what would be the limiting reactant?

Answer 1

To determine the limiting reactant between hydrogen sulfide and silver, we need to calculate the moles of each based on their respective molar masses and the balanced chemical equation 2Ag + H₂S → Ag₂S + H₂. The calculations reveal that silver (Ag) is the limiting reactant because there are fewer moles of it than are needed to react with the available moles of sulfur from H₂S.

Step-by-step explanation:

To identify the limiting reactant between hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and silver (Ag), we need to compare the mole amounts of each reactant based on the balanced chemical reaction:

2Ag (s) + H₂S (g) → Ag₂S (s) + H₂ (g)

The atomic mass of Ag is approximately 107.87 g/mol, and that of S is approximately 32.07 g/mol. Since we have 1.00 g of H₂S, we can calculate the moles of sulfur:

1.00 g H₂S * (1 mole S / 34.08 g H₂S) = 0.0293 moles S

For silver, we have 2.00 g of Ag, which is:

2.00 g Ag * (1 mole Ag / 107.87 g Ag) = 0.0185 moles Ag

Using the balanced equation ratio of 2:1 for Ag:S, we need two moles of Ag for every mole of S to react completely. This means for 0.0293 moles of S, we need:

0.0293 moles S * (2 moles Ag / 1 mole S) = 0.0586 moles Ag

Since we only have 0.0185 moles of Ag, which is less than the required 0.0586 moles, Ag is the limiting reactant.