Question

In an experiment 25 grams of chloroform and 25 grams of chlorine were mixed. Which is the limiting reagent? I picked C but I’m not sure if I’m correct

Answer 1

In this question, we have to find the limiting reactant based on the following reaction:

CHCl3 + Cl2 -> CCl4 + HCl

We have:

25 grams of CHCl3

25 grams of Cl2

The molar ratio between these two compounds is 1:1, 1 mol of CHCl3 for 1 mol of Cl2

Now we have to find the number of moles of each reactant, let's start with CHCl3, we will use its molar mass, 119.38g/mol:

119.38g = 1 mol

25g = x moles

119.38x = 25

x = 25/119.38

x = 0.209 moles of CHCl3

According to the molar ratio, if we have 0.209 moles of CHCl3, we will also have 0.209 moles of Cl2, which has a molar mass of 70.9g/mol

Let's find the mass of 0.209 moles of Cl2:

70.9g = 1 mol

x grams = 0.209 moles of Cl2

x = 14.81 grams

We only need 14.81 grams of Cl2 to react with 25 grams of CHCl3, since we have more Cl2 than we actually need, this makes Cl2 the excess reactant, and CHCl3 will be the limiting reactant. Letter C