Consider the combustion of methane: Ch4(g)+2O2(g) --> CO2(g)+2H2O(g), suppose 2.8 moles of methane are allowed to react with 3 moles of oxygen, what is the limiting reactant?

Answer 1

#O_2# is the limiting reactant.

Although there are other ways to identify the limiting reactant, this one seems to be the easiest.

The reaction is: #CH_4(g) + color(blue)(2)O_2(g)->CO_2(g)+2H_2O(g)#

Determine the molar ratio between the number of reactants in the experiment and the number in the theory:

For #CH_4#: #(2.8 cancel(mol))/(1 cancel(mol))=2.8#. The #1 " mol"# is taking from the coefficient of #CH_4# from the balanced equation.

For #O_2#: #(3 cancel(mol))/(color(blue)(2 cancel(mol)))=1.5#. The #2 " mol"# is taking from the coefficient of #O_2# from the balanced equation.

The reactant that gives the smaller molar ratio is the limiting reactant which is in this case the oxygen #O_2#

More Explanation: To consume the #2.8 " moles of " CH_4# we need #5.6 " moles of " O_2# since the molar ratio is 1:2. We have only #3 " moles of " O_2#; therefore, #O_2# is the limiting reactant.

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Answer 2

Natalie Anton

To determine the limiting reactant, we need to compare the moles of each reactant to the stoichiometric coefficients in the balanced equation. For methane (CH₄): moles = 2.8 and for oxygen (O₂): moles = 3. Using the stoichiometric coefficients, we find that 2.8 moles of methane would require 2.8 * 2 = 5.6 moles of oxygen. Since we only have 3 moles of oxygen, it is the limiting reactant.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.

Consider the combustion of methane: Ch4(g)+2O2(g) --&gt; CO2(g)+2H2O(g), suppose 2.8 moles of methane are allowed to react with 3 moles of oxygen, what is the limiting reactant?

Consider the combustion of methane: Ch4(g)+2O2(g) --> CO2(g)+2H2O(g), suppose 2.8 moles of methane are allowed to react with 3 moles of oxygen, what is the limiting reactant?