when 3.05 moles o CH4 are mixed with 5.03 moles of O2 the limiting reactant is
To determine the limiting reactant, we need to compare the number of moles of each reactant to the stoichiometric ratio of the balanced chemical equation.
The balanced chemical equation for the combustion of CH4 (methane) with O2 (oxygen) is:
CH4 + 2O2 -> CO2 + 2H2O
From the balanced equation, we can see that the ratio of CH4 to O2 is 1:2.
Given:
Moles of CH4 = 3.05 moles
Moles of O2 = 5.03 moles
To determine the limiting reactant:
1. Divide the number of moles of each reactant by their respective stoichiometric coefficients.
moles of CH4 / coefficient of CH4 = 3.05 / 1 = 3.05
moles of O2 / coefficient of O2 = 5.03 / 2 = 2.515
2. The reactant with the smaller value is the limiting reactant. In this case, CH4 has a smaller value of 3.05 moles compared to O2's 2.515 moleshence CH4 is the limiting reactant.