How many moles of water can be made from 4 moles of oxygen gas and 16 moles of hydrogen gas? What is the Limiting Reagent?
See below.
To determine the number of moles of water that can be produced from the given amounts of oxygen gas and hydrogen gas, we need to consider the balanced chemical equation for the reaction. The balanced equation for the synthesis of water (H2O) from oxygen gas (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) is:
2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O
From the balanced equation, we can see that 2 moles of hydrogen gas (H2) are required for every 1 mole of oxygen gas (O2) to produce 2 moles of water (H2O).
Given that we have 4 moles of oxygen gas and 16 moles of hydrogen gas, we can calculate the number of moles of water that can be produced by comparing the mole ratios:
1 mole of O2 produces 2 moles of H2O
4 moles of O2 will produce (4 moles O2) x (2 moles H2O/1 mole O2) = 8 moles of H2O
However, we have 16 moles of H2, which can produce (16 moles H2) x (2 moles H2O/2 moles H2) = 16 moles of H2O
Comparing the two results, we see that the water produced is limited by the amount of 8 moles of O2, which is the smaller value. Therefore, oxygen gas (O2) is the limiting reagent in this reaction.
To summarize:
- 8 moles of water can be produced from 4 moles of oxygen gas and 16 moles of hydrogen gas.
- The limiting reagent is oxygen gas (O2).