Final answer:
To calculate the stoichiometry of the reactants and identify the limiting reactant, you need to determine the mole ratio between the sand and metal. The reactant with the smallest mole ratio is the limiting reactant.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the stoichiometry of the reactants, we need to determine the mole ratio between the sand and the metal. The mole ratio can be found by dividing the moles of each reactant by their stoichiometric coefficients in the balanced chemical equation.
Let's assume the balanced equation is:
Sand + Metal → Product
If we have 4.5g of sand and 7g of metal, we can convert these masses to moles and then calculate the mole ratio:
Moles of sand = 4.5g / molar mass of sand
Moles of metal = 7g / molar mass of metal
Once we have the mole ratio, we can identify the limiting reactant. The reactant with the smallest mole ratio is the limiting reactant.