FIRST QUARTER

M
STOICHIOMETRY

O Calculations with Chemical Formulas and Equations

D Contents:
Contents:

U
Chemical Equations
Chemical Equations
The mole Concept
The mole Concept of Empirical and Molecular
Determination
Formulas of Empirical and Molecular

L
Determination
Formulas
Stoichiometric Calculations: Amounts of Reactants
and Products
Stoichiometric Calculations: Amounts of Reactants
and Limiting
ProductsReagents

E
Limiting Reagents
Theoretical and Percent Yields
Theoretical and Percent Yields

1
 Introduction
hemical reactions have profound effect on our lives. There are many examples: food is converted to
energy in the human body; nitrogen and hydrogen are combined to form ammonia, which is used as a
fertilizer; fuels and plastics are produced from petroleum; the starch in plants is synthesized from carbon
dioxide and water using energy from sunlight; human insulin is produced in laboratories by bacteria;
cancer is induced in humans by substances form our environment; and so on, in a seemingly endless list.
The central activity of chemistry is to understand chemical changes such as these.
In this module, we will consider the quantities of materials consumed and produced in chemical
reactions. This area of study is known as stoichiometry (pronounced stoy-key-OM-uh-tree), a named
derived from the Greek words stoicheion (element) and metron (measure).

1.1 Chemical Equations

Objectives
To identify the characteristics of a chemical reaction and the information given by a chemical equation.
To show how to write a balanced equation to describe a chemical reaction.

Chemical reactions are represented in a concise way by chemical equations. For example, when hydrogen,
H2, burns, it reacts with oxygen, O 2, in the air to form water, H 2O. We write the chemical equation for this
reaction as follows :
2H 2 (g) + O2 (g) 2H 2O (l) [1.1]

A chemical equation provides a list of ingredients for the reaction, and it allows what species the reaction
produces. It also tells us the relative amounts of each species involved in the reaction (Equation 1.1).

Note these essential features of the equation:

a. The reactants appear on the lef, and the products appear on the right.
b. There are numbers in front of the formulas called, coefficients. The stoichiometric coefficients in any
chemical equation are the set of smallest integers that gives a balanced equation. When no number
appears, we understand that it is 1.
c. The + sign means reacts with and the arrow as produces.
d. The physical state of each species in a chemical equation is often indicated parenthetically. We use the
symbols (g), (l), (s), and (aq) for gas, liquid, solid and aqueous (water) solution respectively.

Because atoms are neither created nor destroyed in any reaction (Law of Conservation of Matter), a chemical
equation must have an equal number of atoms of each element on each side of the arrow. When this condition
is met, the equation is said to be balanced. In balancing equations, it is important to understand the difference
between a coefficient and a subscript in a formula. Remember that changing a subscript in a formula from H 2O
to H2O2, for example changes the identity of the chemical. The substance H 2O2, hydrogen peroxide, is quite
different from H2O, water. Subscripts should never be changed in balancing an equation. In contrast, placing a
coefficient in front of a formula changes only the amount and not the identity of the substances; 2H 2O, means
two molecules of water, 3H2O, means three molecules of water, and so forth. The method used in balancing
equations is the trial and error method or balancing by inspection. This means changing the coefficients until the
number of atoms of each element is the same on each side of the arrow.

Exercise 1.1
Balance the following equations:
(1) Al + HCl AlCl 3 + H2
(2) C2H4 + O2 CO2 + H2O
(3) PCl3 + H2O H3PO3 + HCl
 (4) At 1000 oC, ammonia gas, NH3(g), reacts with oxygen to form gaseous nitric oxide, NO(g), and water
vapor. Write the balanced equation for this reaction.
(5) Ammonium Nitrate, a colorless ionic solid used as a fertilizer, explodes when it is heated above 300 oC.
The products are three gases; molecular nitrogen, molecular oxygen and steam (water vapor). Write a
balanced equation for the explosion of ammonium nitrate.

1.2 The Mole Concept

Objectives
To explain the importance of the mole concept.
To show how to calculate values for molar mass.
To show how to convert among moles, molar mass, and number of particles for a given sample.

The mole
`To avoid having to work with unimaginably large numbers, chemists use a convenient unit called the
mole (mol),
One mole is the number of atoms in exactly 12 g of the pure isotope carbon-12
Using mass spectrometers, scientists have determined that the mass of a 12C atom is m12C = 1.992648 x 10-23
g/atom. Combining this experimental mass with the definition of the mole, gives the number of atoms in one
mole:

(12 g 12C/mol) / (1.992648 x 10-23 12C/atom) = 6.022137 x 1023 atoms/mol

This number, 6.022137 x 10 23 is called Avogadros number, in honor of Amedeo Avogadro (1176-1856), an Italian
scientist. One mole of something consists of 6.022 x 10 23 units of that substance. Just as a dozen of eggs is 12
eggs, a mole of eggs is 6.022 x 1023 eggs.
A mole of ions, molecules, or anything else contains Avogadros number of these objects:
1 mol 12C atoms = 6.022 x 1023 12C atoms
1 mol H2O molecules = 6.022 x 1023 H2O molecules
1 mol of Ag+ ions = 6.022 x 1023 Ag+ ions

Exercise 1.2.1
a. How many Silver, Ag atoms are in 2 mol of Silver?
b. How many C atoms are in 0.350 mol of C 6H12O6?
c. How many nitrogen atoms are in 0.25 mol of Ca(NO 3)2?

Molar Mass
The mass in grams of 1 mol of a substance is called its molar mass. The molar mass (grams) of any
substance is always numerically equal to its formula weight (in amu):
One H2O molecule weighs 18.0 amu; 1 mol H2O weighs 18.0 g.
One NO3- ion weighs 62.0 amu; 1 mol NO3- weighs 62.0 g.
One NaCl unit weighs 58.5 amu; 1 mol NaCl weighs 58.5 g.

*The molar mass of a known substance is obtained by summing the masses of the component atoms.

Exercise 1.2.2
Calculate the molar mass of the following compounds.
a. Calcium Nitrate, Ca(NO3)2
b. Ammonium Phosphate , (NH3)3PO4
c. Borax, Na2B4O7 10 H2O
d. Alum , K2Al(SO4) 12 H2O
Interconverting Masses, Moles and Number of Particles
The conversions of mass to moles and of moles to mass are frequently encountered in calculations using
the mole concept. These calculations are made easy through dimensional analysis (factor-label method).

Mass Use Molar Use Avogadros Number of

Mol
in Mass Number Particles
es
grams

Figure 1.1 Outline of the procedure used to interconvert the mass of a substance in grams and the number of
particles of that substance. The number moles of the substance is central to the calculation.

Exercise 1.2.3
a. How many moles of glucose, C6H12O6 are in 538 g of this substance?
b. What is the mass in grams, of 0.433 mol of Ca(NO 3)2?
c. How many oxygen atoms are present in 4.20 g of NaHCO 3?
d. A silicon chip used in an integrated circuit of a microcomputer has a mass of 5.68 mg. How many silicon
(Si) atoms are present in this chip?
e. Cobalt (Co) is a metal that is added to steel to improve its resistance to corrosion. Calculate both the
number of moles in a sample of cobalt containing 5.00 x 10 20 atoms and the mass of the sample.

1.3 Determination of Chemical Formulas

Objectives
To demonstrate the calculation of the mass percent of a given element in a compound.
To demonstrate the calculation of the empirical formula of a compound.
To show how to obtain the molecular formula, given the empirical formula and the molar mass.

Percent Composition of Compounds

There are two common ways of describing the composition of a compound: in terms of the numbers of
its constituent atoms and in terms of the percentages (by mass) of its elements. We can obtain the mass
percents of the elements from the formula of the compound by comparing the mass of each element present in
1 mole of the compound to the total mass of 1 mole of the compound.

(Atoms of element)(Atomic Weight) 100

Molar mass of Compound

Exercise 1.3.1
a. Calculate the percent composition of C12H22O11.
b. Calculate the percentage of nitrogen, by mass, in Ca(NO 3)2.
c. Calculate the percent composition of blue vitriol, CuSO4 5H 2O.
d. Penicillin, the first of a now large number of antibiotics have saved millions of lives that might have been
lost to infections. Penicillin F has a formula C14H20N2SO4. Compute the mass percent of each element.

Empirical Formula and Molecular Formula

Empirical formula tells us the relative number of atoms of each element it contains. This is the simplest
formula because it uses the smallest set of integers (the subscripts) that express the correct ratios of atoms
present.
The general procedure for determining empirical formulas is outlined in Figure 1.2
 Mass % Empirical
elements Formula

Assume 100 g sample Calculate mole ratio

Grams of each Use atomic Moles of each

element Weights element

Figure 1.2 Outline of the procedure used to calculate the empirical formula of a substance from its percentage composition.
The procedure is also summarized as percent to mass, mass to moles, divide by small, multiply until whole.

Exercise 1.3.2
a. Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) contains 40.92% C, 4.58% H, and 54.50% O by mass. What is its empirical formula.
b. Analysis of ibuprofen, the active ingredient in Advil, shows that it contains 75.7% carbon, 8.8% hydrogen, and
15.5% oxygen. The mass spectrum of ibuprofen shows that it has a molar mass of about 200 g/mol. Determine
the chemical formula of this compound.
c. A 5.325-g sample of methyl benzoate, a common compound used in the manufacture of perfumes, is found to
contain 3.758 g of carbon, 0.316 g hydrogen, and 1.251 g of oxygen. What is the empirical formula of this
substance?

Molecular formula indicates the actual number of atoms of each element in one molecule of a
substance.
Molecular formula = (empirical formula) x , where x is an integer.
To get x, divide the formula weight (weight from the empirical formula) into the molecular weight.
X= MW/FW

Exercise 1.3.3
a. Mesitylene, a hydrocarbon that occurs in small amounts in crude oil. Has an empirical formula of C 3H4.
The experimentally determined molecular weight of this substance is 121 g/mol. What is its molecular
formula?
b. Ethanol, the alcohol contained in alcoholic beverages, is composed of 52.2% C, 13.0% H, and 34.8% O by
mass. Its molar mass is 46.0 g/mol. (i) what is the empirical formula of ethanol?(ii) What is its molecular
formula?

1.4 Stoichiometric Calculations: Amounts of Reactants

and Products
Objective
To show how to calculate the masses of reactants and products using the chemical equation.

How much molecular hydrogen is required to produce 2.0 x 10 6 g of ammonia when it is reacted with
molecular nitrogen? It would be a mistake to mix random amounts of N 2 and H2 and hope for the best. In
making a cake, a baker must mix the right proportions of flour, sugar, water, and eggs, or the product will be
inedible. As in cooking, a chemical synthesis requires the proper mix of starting materials for a successful
 outcome. In cooking, a recipe provides the proper proportions of ingredients. In chemistry, a balanced
chemical equation gives the appropriate molar stoichiometric ratios for the amounts of starting materials.

To find out how much hydrogen is needed to make 2.0 x 10 6 g of ammonia, we begin with the balanced
chemical equation of the reaction:

N2 + 3 H 2 2 NH 3

The synthesis of 2.0 mol of ammonia requires 3.0 mol of hydrogen and 1.0 mol of nitrogen. Thus to prepare
2.0 x 106 g of ammonia, we need to know the number of moles of ammonia in 2.0 x 10 6 g.

2.0 x 106 g NH3 1 mol NH3 = 1.18 x 105 mol NH3

17 g NH3

How many moles of hydrogen are needed to make 1.18 x 105 mol NH3 ? According to the balanced equation, 2
mol of NH3 require 3 mol of H2. Apply these mole ratios to the desired amount of NH 3.

1.18 x 105 mol NH3 3 mol H2 = 1.77 x 105 mol H2

2 mol NH3
Mole ratio
Finally, convert mol hydrogen to mass in grams:

1.77 x 105 mol H2 2 g H2 = 3.54 x 105 g H2

1 mol H2

Therefore, 3.54 x 105 g H2 is needed to produce 2.0 x 106 g of NH3.

Shorter way of solving:

2.0 x 106 g NH3 1 mol NH3 3 mol H2 2 g H2 = 3.54 x 105 g H2

17 g NH3 2 mol NH3 1 mol H2

The Steps for calculating masses of reactants and products in chemical reactions
Step 1 Balance the equation for the reaction
Step 2 Convert the known mass of the reactant or product to moles of that substance.
Step 3 Use the balanced equation to set-up the appropriate mole ratios.
Step 4 Use the appropriate mole ratios to calculate the number of moles of the desired reactant or product.
Step 5 Convert from moles back to grams if required by the problem.

Exercise 1.4
a. A common laboratory method for preparing small amounts of O 2 involves the decomposition of KClO 3 ;
2KClO3(s) 2KCl(s) + 3O 2(g). How many grams of O2 can be prepared from 4.50 g of KClO 3?
b. Phosphorus trichloride is produced from the reaction of solid phosphorus and chlorine gas:
P4 (s) + Cl2(g) PCl 3(l) . What mass of phosphorus trichloride can be prepared from 75.0 g of
phosphosrus.
c. How many grams of water are produced in the combustion of 1.00 g of glucose, C 6H12O6? (Note: The
other product of combustion is CO2)
d. Solid Lithium hydroxide is used in space vehicles to remove exhaled carbon dioxide from the living
environment by forming solid lithium carbonate and liquid water. What mass of gaseous carbon dioxide
can be absorbed by 1.00 kg of lithium hydroxide.
1.5 Limiting Reactant
Objectives
To show how to recognize the limiting reactant
To demonstrate the use of the limiting reactant in stoichiometric calculations.

Suppose you have 10 slices of bread and 7 pieces of cheese and you wish to make sandwiches using one slice of
cheese and two slices of bread per sandwich. You will be able to make only five sandwiches before you run out
of bread. You will have two slices of cheese left over. The amount of available bread limits the number of
sandwiches. In this case, the bread is considered as the limiting reactant. Limiting reactant or limiting reagent is
the substance that is completely consumed in a reaction and it determines or limits the amount of product
formed. The other reactants are sometimes called excess reactants or excess reagents.

Sample Problem
1. Part of the SO2 that is introduced into the atmosphere ends up being converted to sulfuric acid, H 2SO4. The
net reaction is 2 SO2(g) + O2(g) + 2 H2O(l) 2 H 2SO4(aq) How much H2SO4 can be formed
from 5.0 mol of SO2, 1.0 mol of O2, and an unlimited quantity of H 2O? What is the limiting reactant?excess
reactant?

Solution: (This approach is to calculate the amount of product that could be formed from each of the given
amounts of reactants, assuming they were all completely consumed. The reagent that leads to the smallest
amount of product is the limiting reactant).

Use the given amounts of SO 2 and O2 to calculate the amount of H 2SO4 that can be produced in the reaction.(For
the mole ratio, refer to the balanced equation)

5.0 mol SO2 2 mol H2SO4 = 5.0 mol H2SO4

2 mol SO2
1.0 mol O2 2 mol H2SO4 = 2 mol H2SO4
The amount of H2SO4
1 mol O2
that can be produced
Based on the above calculation, 2 mol H 2SO4 can be produced from 1 mol Oin the reaction
2, and 5.0 mol
H2SO4 can be
produced from 5 mol SO2. Because O2 is totally consumed first than SO 2 producing only 2 mol H 2SO4, then it is the
substance that limits the production of H 2SO4.
Therefore, O2 is the limiting reactant, and SO2 is the excess reactant.

Exrecise 1.5
a. Consider the reaction 2Al(s) + 3Cl 2 (g) 2AlCl 3(s). A mixture of 1.5 mol of Al and 3.0 mol of Cl2
are allowed to react. (i) What is the limiting reactant? (ii) How many moles of AlCl 3 are formed? (iii) How
many grams of AlCl3 are formed?
b. A strip of Zinc metal weighing 2.00 g is placed in an aqueous solution containing 2.50 g silver nitrate,
causing the following reaction to occur:
Zn(s) + 2AgNO3(aq) 2Ag(s) + Zn(NO 3)2(aq)

How many grams of Ag will form?

c. Consider the following resction:

2Na3PO4(aq) + 3Ba(NO3)2(aq) Ba3(PO4)2(s) + 6NaNO3(aq)

Suppose that a solution containing 3.50 g of Na 3PO4 is mixed with a solution containing 6.40 g of Ba(NO 3)2
. How many grams of Ba3(PO4)2 can be formed?
1.6 Theoretical and Percent Yields
 Objective
To show how to calculate theoretical and percent yields

The amount of product formed when the limiting reactant is completely consumed is called theoretical yield of
that product. This is the maximum amount of product that can be produced from the quantities of reactants
used. The amount of product actually obtained in a reaction is called the actual yield. The actual yield is almost
always less than (and can never be greater than) the theoretical yield. There are many reasons for this difference.
For example, part of the reactants may not react, or they may react in a way different form that desired (side
reactions). In addition, it is not always possible to recover the entire reaction product from the reaction mixture.
The percent yield of a reaction relates the actual yield to the theoretical (calculated) yield:

Percent yield = actual yield 100

Theoretical yield

Exercise 1.6
a. Adipic acid, H2C6H8O4, is a raw material used for the production of nylon. It is made commercially by a
controlled reaction between cyclohexane, C6H12, and O2:
2C6H12 + 5O2 2H 2C6H8O4 + 2H2O

(i) Assume that you carry out this reaction starting with 25.0 g of cyclohexane, and that
cyclohexane is the limiting reactant. What is the theoretical yield of adipic acid?
(ii) If you obtain 33.5 g of adipic acid form your reaction, what is the percent yield of adipic acid?

b. Imagine that you are working on ways to improve the process by which iron ore containing Fe 2O3 is
converted into iron. In your tests you carry out the following reaction on a small scale:
Fe2O3(s) + 3CO(g) 2Fe(s) + 3CO 2(g)

(i) If you start with 150 g of Fe2O3 as the limiting reagent, what is the theoretical yield of Fe?
(ii) If the actual yield of Fe in your test was 87.9 g, what was the percent yield?

ADDITIONAL EXERCISES
1. Balance the following equations:
a. (NH4)2Cr2O7(s) N 2(g) + Cr2O3(s) + H2O(l)
b. Mg3N2(s) + HCl(aq) MgCl2(aq) + NH4Cl(aq)
c. C3H5NO(g) + O2(g) CO2(g) + NO2(g) + H2O(l)

2. Write a balanced chemical equation to correspond to each of the following descriptions:

a. When sulfur trioxide gas reacts with water, a solution of sulfuric acid forms.
b. Phosphine, PH3(g), combusts in oxygen gas to form gaseous water and solid tetraphosphorus
decoxide.
c. When hydrogen sulfide gas is passed over solid hot iron(III) hydroxide, the resultant reaction
produces solid iron(III) sulfide and gaseous water.

3. How many moles are represented by each of these samples?

a. 100 molecules of H2O d. 200 g of H2O
b. 500 g of Fe e. 0.035 mg of O2
c. 500 atoms of Fe

4. (a) What is the molar mass of copper(II) nitrate, Cu(NO 3)2? (b) What is the mass in grams, of 0.320 mol of
Cu(NO3)2? (c) How many moles of Cu(NO 3)2 are present in 5.20 g of this substance? (d) How many N
atoms are present in 5.25 mg of Cu(NO3)2?

5. Arrange the following substances in order of the increasing percent of phosphorus.

a. Na3PO4 c. P4O10
b. PH3 d. (NPCl2)3

6. The active ingredient in photographic fixer solution contains sodium, sulfur, and oxygen. Analysis of a
sample shows that that sample contains 0.979 g Na, 1.365 g S, and 1.021 g O. What is the empirical
formula of this substance?

7. Epinephrine (adrenaline), a hormone secreted into the bloodstream in times of danger or stress is
composed of: 59.0% C, 7.1% H, 26.2% O and 7.7% N by mass. Determine the empirical and molecular
formulas of this substance.

8. Epsom salt, a strong laxative used in veterinary medicine, is a hydrate, which means that a certain
number of water molecules are included in the solid structure. The formula of the Epsom salt can be
written as MgSO4 xH2O, where x indicates the number of moles of water per mole of MgSO 4. When
5.061 g of this hydrate is heated to 250 oC, all the water of hydration is lost, leaving 2.472 g of MgSO 4.
What is the value of x?

9. The alcohol in gasohol burns according to the following equation:

C2H5OH(l) + 3O2(g) 2CO2(g) + 3H2O(l)

(a). How many moles of CO2 are produced when 5 mol of C2H5OH is burned in this way?
(b). How many grams of CO2 are produced when 5 g of C2H5OH is burned in this way?

10. Many antacids contain aluminum hydroxide, Al(OH) 3, as their active ingredient. (a) Write the balanced
chemical equation for the reaction of HCl in stomach acid with solid Al(OH) 3 to form water and aqueous
AlCl3. (b) How many grams of HCl react with 2.50 g of Al(OH) 3?
 11. Combustion reactions require significant quantities of molecular oxygen. In an automobile the fuel-
injection system must be adjusted to provide the right mix of gasoline and air. Compute the number of
grams of oxygen required to react completely with 1.0 L of octane (C 8H18 , density = 0.80 g/mL). How
many grams of water and carbon dioxide are produced in this reaction?

12. If 150 g of carbon reacts with 250 g of Cl 2, and the reaction goes in 87% yield, how many grams of CCl 4
are produced?

13. Production of hydrogen cyanide, HCN is shown in the reaction: CH 4 + NH3 + O2 HCN + H2O
If the yield of this synthesis is 97.5%, how many kilograms of methane and how many kilograms of
ammonia should be used to produce 1.50 x 10 5 kg of HCN?(Note: The equation is not yet balanced).

14. A manufacturer of bicycles has 5350 wheels, 3133 frames, and 2785 handlebars.
a. How many bicycles can be manufactured using these parts?
b. How many parts of each kind are left over?
c. Which part is like the limiting reactant in that it limits the production of bicycles?

15. Consider the following reaction:

H2S(g) + 2NaOH(aq) Na 2S(aq) + 2H2O(l)
How many grams of Na2S are formed if 2.05 g of H2S is bubbled into a solution containing 1.84 g NaOH,
assuming that the limiting reagent is completely consumed?

REFERENCES
Brown, T,L, et,al, CHEMISTRY: The Central Science. Sixth Edition. Prentice Hall International, Inc,
New Jersey. 1994

Olmsted, J. et. al., Chemistry: The Molecular Science. Von Hoffman Press. United States of America.
1994

Sherman, Alan and Sherma Sharon. Chemistry and Our Changing World. Third Edition. Prentice Hall
Inc. 1992

Zumdahl, Steven S. Chemistry: Instructors Edition. Third Edition. D.C. Heath and Company.
Massachusetts Toronto. 1989

Advanced Chemistry: A compilation of Instructional Enrichment Materials for Special Science Classes of S & T
Oriented High Schools