What mass of sodium chloride is produced when 10.0g of sodium is reacted with 20.0g of chlorine?
You always know you have a limiting reagent problem when an amount for BOTH of the reactants are given.
Write the equation and balance it.
2. Convert 10.0 g Na to moles. moles = grams/molar mass
3. Convert 20.0 g Cl2 to moles the same way.
3. Using the coefficients in the balanced equation, convert moles Na to moles NaCl.
4. Same process, convert moles Cl2 to moles NaCl.
5. The answers from 3 and 4 probably will not agree which means one of them is wrong. The correct answer in limiting reagent problems is ALWAYS the smaller one and the reagent producing that value is the limiting reagent.
6. Using the smaller value, convert to grams. g = moles x molar mass.
To determine the mass of sodium chloride produced when sodium reacts with chlorine, we need to use the concept of stoichiometry. Stoichiometry allows us to relate the amounts of reactants and products in a chemical reaction.
First, we need to write the balanced chemical equation for the reaction. The reaction between sodium and chlorine produces sodium chloride, so the balanced equation is:
2Na + Cl2 -> 2NaCl
According to the balanced equation, 2 moles of sodium react with 1 mole of chlorine to produce 2 moles of sodium chloride. Therefore, the molar ratio between sodium and sodium chloride is 2:2, or simply 1:1.
To calculate the mass of sodium chloride produced, follow these steps:
1. Convert the given masses of sodium and chlorine to moles using their molar masses:
- Moles of sodium = mass of sodium / molar mass of sodium
- Moles of chlorine = mass of chlorine / molar mass of chlorine
The molar masses of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) can be found on the periodic table:
- Molar mass of sodium (Na) = 22.99 g/mol
- Molar mass of chlorine (Cl) = 35.45 g/mol
Substituting the values:
- Moles of sodium = 10.0 g / 22.99 g/mol
- Moles of chlorine = 20.0 g / 35.45 g/mol
2. Determine the limiting reactant. The limiting reactant is the one that gets completely consumed and determines the maximum amount of product formed. To determine the limiting reactant, compare the moles of sodium and chlorine calculated in the previous step. The reactant with the smaller number of moles is the limiting reactant.
3. Calculate the moles of sodium chloride produced based on the limiting reactant. Since the molar ratio between sodium and sodium chloride is 1:1, the moles of sodium chloride produced will be equal to the moles of the limiting reactant.
4. Convert the moles of sodium chloride produced to mass using its molar mass:
- Mass of sodium chloride = moles of sodium chloride x molar mass of sodium chloride
The molar mass of sodium chloride (NaCl) is the sum of the molar masses of sodium and chlorine:
- Molar mass of sodium chloride (NaCl) = molar mass of sodium + molar mass of chlorine
Substituting the values:
- Mass of sodium chloride = moles of sodium chloride x (molar mass of sodium + molar mass of chlorine)
Calculating these values will give you the mass of sodium chloride produced when sodium reacts with chlorine.