Introduction

Themainaimofthisexperimentistodemonstratetheapplicationoftheprinciplesof
stoichiometryandalsoillustratetheeffectsoflimitingreagentsonachemicalreaction.

Stoichiometry,derivedfromtheGreekwords
stoicheion
(meaningelement)and
metron
(meaningmeasure)dealswiththecalculationofmassesofthereactantsandtheproducts
involvedinachemicalreaction.

Manyatime,whileperformingstoichiometriccalculations,itisobservedthatchemical
reactionsarecarriedoutwhenthereactantsarenotpresentinamountsasrequiredbythe
balancedchemicalequation
forthatreaction.Asaresult,onereactantisinexcessoverthe
other.Thisreactantpresentinthelesseramountgetsconsumed,afterwhichnofurther
reactionwouldtakeplace,nomatterwhateverbetheamountoftheotherreactantpresent.
Hence,thereactantthatgetsconsumedlimitstheamountofproductformed,andistherefore
calledthelimitingreagent.

Accordingtothelawofconservationofmass,abalancedchemicalequationhasthesame
numberofatomsofeachelementonbothsidesoftheequation.

Example1)UnbalancedChemicalEquation:
Example2)BalancedChemicalEquation:

Thisexperimentwillalsoinvolveacomparisonoftheactualyieldandthetheoreticalyield
ofthechemicalreaction.TheoreticalYieldisdefinedastheamountofproductthatwouldbe
formedfromthechemicalreactionunderidealizedconditionswhileActualYieldisdefined
astheamountofproductthatwouldbeactuallysynthesizedfromthesame.Theratioofthe
actualyieldtothetheoreticalyieldmultipliedby100yieldsthepercentageyield,indicating
thepercentageofthetheoreticalyieldthatwasformedinthereactionfromexperimentation.

ActualY ield
PercentageYield= TheoreticalY
ield 100%

CalculationsandDiscussions
Thisexperimentinvolvesthedoubledisplacementreactionofsodiumhydroxide(NaOH)
andCalciumChloride (CaCl2) whichiscarriedoutinthreephases:thefirstofwhichinvolves
theprecipitationofNaOH,whiletheothersinvolvefindingthelimitingreagentand
calculatingthetheoreticalyieldrespectively.
Inordertofindthelimitingreagentandtheactualyield,wewouldrequirethemolarratios
ofthereactants,whichcanbeobtainedfromthebalancedequationofthereactionwhichis
asfollows:
CaCl2(aq) + 2NaOH (aq)Ca(OH)2(s) + 2NaCl(aq)

DeterminingtheLimitingReagentandCalculatingtheExcessReagent

a. CalculationofthenumberofmolesofNaOHandCaCl2
MolarityofNaOH=
MolarityofCaCl2=
SampleNo.

Numberofmoles (CaCl2)

Numberofmoles (NaOH)

TestTube#1

TestTube#2

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b. Findingthelimitingreagentandcalculatingtheexcessreagent

Accordingtothebalancedchemicalequationofthegivenreaction
(CaCl2(aq) + 2NaOH (aq)Ca(OH)2(s) + 2NaCl(aq)) ,itcouldbeseenfromthestoichiometric
coefficientsthatforeverymoleofsodiumhydroxideused,wewouldrequirehalfamoleof
calciumchloride.
So,comparingthemolarratiosofsodiumhydroxidetocalciumchloride
fromthetable,itissafetoconcludethatcalciumchlorideisthelimitingreagentintest
tubes1and2whileitissodiumhydroxide,intesttube4.Thereisnolimitingreagentin
testtube3sincebothcompoundsarepresentintheratioasrequiredbythebalanced
equation.

c.CalculationoftheExcessReagent:

TestTube#1

ExcessReagent

Numberof
molesofexcess
reagentinmol
Massofexcess
reagentin
grams

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TestTube#4

--

TestTube#3

Experimentally,theexcessreagentwasdeterminedbycheckingthesampleswhichshowed
aformationofprecipitateandwhichdidnot,asissummarizedintheexcessreagenttestin
thedatasheetattachedattheendofthisreport.

d.CalculationofTheoreticalYieldofCalciumHydroxide
Calculationofthetheoreticalyieldwouldrequireknowledgeofthelimitingreagents,which
couldbeobtainedfromthecalculationsinsectionb).
Also,fromthebalancedchemicalequationforthereaction,wecancalculatethemolarratio
ofcalciumchloridetocalciumhydroxidetobeequalto1(equimolarratio).
Molarmassofcalciumhydroxide=74grams.
Theoreticalyield,thereforecouldbeestimatedasfollows:

Sample#1

Numberofmoles
of

Sample#2

Sample#3

Sample#4

Massof

e.ActualYieldofCalciumHydroxide(ObtainedbyExperimentation)
Belowshownisthetableoftheactualyieldofcalciumhydroxideobtainedineachofthe
foursamples:
Sample

YieldofCalciumhydroxide

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TestTube#2

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TestTube#4

ActualYieldcouldbeplottedagainstthevolumeofcalciumchlorideusedasfollows:

Fromthegraph,itisobservedthatthereactionproceedsuntilasmallplateauregionofsorts
appears,indicatingthatthelimitingreagentiscausingthereactiontostop.Thisisapplicable

tothefirstthreesamples,whilethespikeinthegraphfromthethirdpointindicatesa
changeinthelimitingreagent(itwasseenthatthelimitingreagentforthefourthsample
alonewasNaOHwhileitwascalciumchloridefortheotherthreesamples).
f.CalculationofPercentageYield
Usingthevaluesofactualyieldandtheoreticalyield,thepercentageyieldforeachofthe
foursamplescouldbeestimatedasfollows:

PercentageYield
Sample#1

Sample#2

Sample#3
Sample#4


DataSheet


Conclusions:

1. Theyieldofthefoursampleswererecordedbydulyfollowingthe
requiredlaboratoryprocedures.
2. Thelimitingreagentwasfoundtobecalciumchlorideinthefirsttwo
samples,whilesodiumhydroxidewasfoundtobethelimitingreagent
inthefourthsample.Thethirdsampledoesnthavealimitingreagent
assuchsincethecompoundsarepresentinanequimolarratio.
3. Wewereabletolearnhowtotakemeasurementsusinglaboratory
scales,andbyavoidingpotentialfirehazards,therebyexpandingour
understandingofmeasurementsandresearch.
4. Wewereabletoestablishexperimentallythatthelimitingreagent
affectstherateofagivenchemicalreaction.