Question

In a laboratory experiment, the reaction of 3.0 mol of H2 with 2.0 mol of I2 produced 1.0 mol of HI. Determine the theoretical number of moles that could be produced in this reaction.

Answer 1

The reaction that is occurring in this question is:

H2 + I2 -> 2 HI

As we can see, the molar ratio for H2 and I2 is 1:1, one mole of H2 for each mole of I2, and the molar ratio between any reactant and HI is 1:2, which means the number of moles of product will be two times more than the number of moles of the reactants

We have:

3.0 moles of H2

2.0 moles of I2

1.0 moles of HI

According to the molar ratio, we should have the name number of moles of I2 and H2, which means that H2 is in excess and I2 is the limiting reactant with 2 moles

If we have 2 moles of I2, and the molar ratio of I2 and HI is 1:2, we should have 4 moles of HI being produced

Therefore the theoretical number of moles is 4.0 moles of HI from 2.0 moles of I2