how many moles of magnesium hydroxide are needed theoretically to neutralize 2.4 moles of hydrochloric acid?

Just follow the steps.

http://www.jiskha.com/science/chemistry/stoichiometry.html

To determine the number of moles of magnesium hydroxide needed to neutralize hydrochloric acid, we need to use the balanced chemical equation between the two compounds.

The balanced equation between magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) is:

Mg(OH)2 + 2HCl -> MgCl2 + 2H2O

From the equation, we can see that 1 mole of magnesium hydroxide reacts with 2 moles of hydrochloric acid to produce 1 mole of magnesium chloride and 2 moles of water.

Given that you have 2.4 moles of hydrochloric acid, we can calculate the number of moles of magnesium hydroxide needed using the mole ratio:

2.4 moles HCl * (1 mole Mg(OH)2 / 2 moles HCl) = 1.2 moles Mg(OH)2

Therefore, theoretically, 1.2 moles of magnesium hydroxide are needed to neutralize 2.4 moles of hydrochloric acid.