how do you tell which reactant is limiting reactant with the following information:

mass of cup 55.78g
mass o/sodium bicarbonate 1.01g
mass o/citric acid 1.52g
toal mass 58.31g
mass of cup,solute after reaction 59.95g
mass o/carbon dioxide .42g

H3C6H5O7(aq) + 3 NaHCO3(aq) �¨ Na3C6H5O7(aq) + 3 H2O(l) + 3 CO2(g)

Convert g citric acid to mols. mols = grams/molar mass. Then convert, using the coefficients in the balanced equation, mols citric acid to moles of the product.

Do the same for NaHCO3. Which ones produces the FEWER mols of the product. That is the limiting reagent.

To determine the limiting reactant in a chemical reaction, you need to compare the number of moles of each reactant involved in the reaction.

1. Find the moles of each reactant:
- Moles of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) = mass / molar mass = 1.01g / (22.99g/mol + 1.01g/mol + 3(16.00g/mol)) = 0.0246 mol
- Moles of citric acid (H3C6H5O7) = mass / molar mass = 1.52g / (3(12.01g/mol) + 6(1.01g/mol) + 7(16.00g/mol)) = 0.0066 mol

2. Determine the mole ratio of the reactants:
From the balanced chemical equation, you can see that the ratio between citric acid and sodium bicarbonate is 1:3. It means that for every 1 mole of citric acid, 3 moles of sodium bicarbonate are required.

3. Multiply the moles of each reactant by the mole ratio:
Moles of sodium bicarbonate * 3 = 0.0246 mol * 3 = 0.0738 mol

4. Compare the calculated moles of each reactant:
- Moles of citric acid = 0.0066 mol
- Moles of sodium bicarbonate = 0.0738 mol

In this case, the number of moles of citric acid is lower than the number of moles of sodium bicarbonate. Therefore, citric acid is the limiting reactant.

Please note that the masses of the cup and the products are irrelevant for determining the limiting reactant. The key information required is the mass of each reactant and the balanced chemical equation.