How many moles of water are produced from the combustion of 3.5 mol of hydrogen and 5.2 mol of oxygen?
Here is a site on Jiskha where I have outlined the steps for limiting reagent problems. Follow the steps.
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1270504808
To determine the number of moles of water produced from the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen, we need to examine the balanced chemical equation for the combustion reaction.
The balanced chemical equation for the combustion of hydrogen with oxygen to produce water is:
2H₂ + O₂ → 2H₂O
From the equation, we can see that 2 moles of hydrogen react with 1 mole of oxygen to produce 2 moles of water.
To find the number of moles of water produced, we need to determine the limiting reactant. The limiting reactant is the one that is completely consumed in the reaction and limits the amount of product formed. To identify the limiting reactant, we can compare the moles of hydrogen and oxygen available.
From the given information, there are 3.5 moles of hydrogen and 5.2 moles of oxygen.
Let's calculate the moles of water produced using both reactants:
For hydrogen:
3.5 mol H₂ × (2 mol H₂O / 2 mol H₂) = 3.5 mol H₂O
For oxygen:
5.2 mol O₂ × (2 mol H₂O / 1 mol O₂) = 10.4 mol H₂O
Comparing the calculated moles of water, we see that the oxygen is in excess because it yields a higher number of moles of water (10.4 mol) compared to the moles of water that can be produced from the available hydrogen (3.5 mol).
Therefore, the maximum amount of water that can be produced is 3.5 moles.
Therefore, from the combustion of 3.5 mol of hydrogen and 5.2 mol of oxygen, a maximum of 3.5 moles of water will be produced.