If we react 23 grams of sodium with 35.5 grams of chlorine to make sodium chloride. How many grams of sodium choride do we make? Include units in your answer
To find the number of grams of sodium chloride produced, we need to determine the limiting reactant. This is the reactant that is completely consumed and determines the amount of product formed.
First, we need to determine the molar masses of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl):
- Molar mass of Na = 23 g/mol
- Molar mass of Cl = 35.5 g/mol
Next, we calculate the number of moles for each reactant:
- Moles of Na = mass of Na / molar mass of Na
= 23 g / 23 g/mol
= 1 mol
- Moles of Cl = mass of Cl / molar mass of Cl
= 35.5 g / 35.5 g/mol
= 1 mol
Now, we examine the stoichiometry of the balanced chemical equation for the reaction between sodium and chlorine:
2 Na + Cl₂ → 2 NaCl
The equation shows that it takes 2 moles of Na to react with 1 mole of Cl₂ to produce 2 moles of NaCl.
Since both reactants have the same number of moles (1 mole), the limiting reactant is Cl₂ because it runs out first. This means we can only form 1 mole of NaCl.
Finally, we calculate the mass of sodium chloride produced using the molar mass of NaCl:
- Mass of NaCl = moles of NaCl × molar mass of NaCl
= 1 mol × (23 g/mol + 35.5 g/mol)
= 1 mol × 58.5 g/mol
= 58.5 g
Therefore, we make 58.5 grams of sodium chloride.