Limiting Reactants and

Percent Yield
AP Chemistry
 What is a Limiting Reactant?
• It is the reactant in a reaction that determines how
much product can be made.
• It is whatever reactant you have the least amount of.
• If you are making a bicycle and you have all the parts to
make 100 bikes, but only 4 wheels available, how many
bikes can you make?
• What is the limiting “part”?
• For chemistry, it is whatever has the least amount of
moles.
 Use the steps below to solve the following problem to
determine the limiting reactant.
1. Write a balanced equation for the reaction.
2. Do a separate mass to mass problem (Convert the known
masses of substance to moles) starting with each reactant. The
smaller answer is correct.

To find out how much of the excess reactant is left over,

1. Start with the initial mass of the limiting reactant and
2. Do a mass to mass problem to determine how much of the
excess reactant was needed.
3. Subtract that value from the initial mass of the excess reactant.
 EXAMPLE

A sample containing 18.1 g of NH3 is

reacted with 90.4 g of CuO. Find out
which of the two is the limiting
reactant. How much of nitrogen gas is
formed?
Step 1. Write a balanced equation for the reaction.

__NH3(g) + __CuO(s) __N2(g) + __Cu(s) + __H2O(g)

Thus, 1.59 moles of CuO is required to react
with 1.06 moles NH3. Since we only have 1.14
moles of CuO, the amount of CuO is limiting.
CuO will be consumed before NH3.
Example

1. Aqueous solutions of silver nitrate and

potassium chloride can be mixed to precipitate
silver chloride. Calculate the mass of silver
chloride that is formed in the reaction of 9.20 g
AgNO3 with 5.15 g KCl.
 Solution
Step 1. Write the balanced equation.

AgNO3 (aq) + KCl (aq) AgCl (s) + KNO3 (aq)

9.20g + 5.15g
Step 2. Solve for the formula weight (moles) of the
reactants.
AgNO3 : Ag : 1 x 108 = 108
N : 1 x 14 = 14
O : 3 x 16 = 48
170

KCl : K : 1 x 39 = 39
Cl : 1 x 35 = 35
74
 If you start with 14.8 g of C3H8 and 3.44 g
of O2, determine the limiting reagent from this
equation :
C3H8 + O2 -------> CO2 + H2O
• determine the number of grams of excess
reagent left
• determine the number of moles of carbon
dioxide
• Given the following equation:
• Al2(SO3)3 + 6 NaOH ------> 3 Na2SO3 + 2 Al(OH)3
• a) If 10.0 g of Al2(SO3)3 is reacted with 10.0 g of NaOH,
determine the limiting reagent
• b) Determine the number of moles of Al(OH)3
produced
• c) Determine the number of grams of Na2SO3
produced
• d) Determine the number of grams of excess reagent
left over in the reaction
1. What volume of hydrogen gas at STP is produced
from the reaction of 50.0g of Mg and 75.0 grams of
HCl? How much of the excess reagent is left over (in
grams)?
Mg(s) + 2 HCl(aq)  MgCl2(s) + H2(g)
Do a standard mass to mass problem starting with each reactant

50.0 gMg 1mol Mg 1mol H2 22.4 L = 46.1 L H

2
24.31g Mg 1mol Mg 1mol H2

75.0 g HCl 1mol HCl 1 mole H2 22.4 L = 23.0 L H

2
36.46 g HCl 2mol HCl 1mol H2

HCl is the limiting reactant!!

How much of the excess reactant is left over?
• Start with the initial mass of the limiting
reactant and do a mass to mass with the other
reactant.
• 75.0g HCl 1mol HCl 1mol Mg 24.31g Mg
36.46g HCl 2mol HCl 1mol Mg

= 25.0 grams Mg needed for the reaction

Thus, 50.0 grams – 25.0 grams =
25.0 grams Mg leftover!
Given the following equation:
• Al2O3 + Fe ------> Fe3O4 + Al
• a) If 25.4 g of Al2O3 is reacted with 10.2 g of Fe,
determine the limiting reagent
• b) Determine the number of moles of Al produced
• c) Determine the number of grams of Fe3O4
produced
• d) Determine the number of grams of excess
reagent left over in the reaction
2. What masses of calcium sulfate and phosphoric acid can be
produced from the reaction of 1.0 kg calcium phosphate with 1.0
kg concentrated sulfuric acid (98% H2SO4 by mass)?
Ca3(PO4) 2 (s) + 3 H2SO4(aq)  3CaSO4(s) + 2H3PO4(aq)

1000g Ca3(PO4)2 1mol Ca3(PO4)2 3mol CaSO4 136.15g CaSO4

310.18g 1 mol Ca3(PO4)2 1mol CaSO4 = 1317 g

980 g H2SO4 1mol H2SO4 3mol CaSO4 136.15g CaSO4

98.09g H2SO4 3mol H2SO4 1mol CaSO4 = 1360 g

•Calcium phosphate is the limiting reactant.

•Starting with calcium phosphate, a mass to mass problem
gives 632 grams phosphoric acid will form!
When MoO3 and Zn are heated together they
react
Zn(s) + MoO3(s) ------->Mo2O3(s) + ZnO(s)

What mass of ZnO is formed when 20.0 grams

of MoO3 is reacted with 10.0 grams of Zn?
 Percent Yield
• Percent Yield describes how much product was actually made in the lab
versus the amount that theoretically could be made.
• Reactions do not always work perfectly. Experimental error (spills,
contamination) often means that the amount of product made in the lab
does not match the ideal amount that could have been made.
•  Theoretical Yield = The maximum amount of product that could be
formed from given amounts of reactants. (you get this from doing a mass
to mass Stoichiometry calculation!)
•  Actual Yield = The amount of product actually formed or recovered
when the reaction is carried out in the laboratory.
•
• % Yield = __Actual Yield X 100
Theoretical Yield
• Example - When copper is heated with an excess of sulfur,
copper(I)sulfide is formed. In a given experiment, 1.50 g copper
was heated with excess sulfur to yield 1.76 g copper(I) sulfide.
What is the theoretical yield? What is the percent yield?

Write balanced reaction 2 Cu + S  Cu2S

Determine theoretical yield – doing a mass to mass problem

1.50g Cu 1 mol Cu 1mol Cu2S 159.17g Cu2S =1.88 g

63.55g Cu 2 mol Cu 1mol Cu2S
Cu2S

Percent Yield = 1.76 g x 100 = 93.6 %

1.88g
Chlorobenzene, C6H5Cl, is used in the production of
chemicals such as aspirin and dyes. One way that
chlorobenzene is prepared is by reacting benzene,
C6H6, with chlorine gas according to the following
BALANCED equation.
C6H6 (l) + Cl2 (g)  C6H5Cl (s) + HCl (g)
a. What is the theoretical yield if 45.6 g of benzene
react?
b. b. If the actual yield is 63.7 g of chlorobenzene,
calculate the percent yield.
 Sn3(PO4)4 + 6 Na2CO3  3 Sn(CO3)2 + 4 Na3PO4

A. If 36 grams of tin (IV) phosphate is mixed with an

excess of sodium carbonate, how many grams of
tin (IV) carbonate will form?
B. If 29.8 grams of tin (IV) carbonate are actually
formed when this reaction goes to completion,
what is the percent yield?
 Computing for Limiting & Excess Reactants and
Percent Yield
A mixture is said to be stoichiometric when
reactants are mixed in the exact mass ratio
determined from the balanced equation. If specific
amounts of each reactant are mixed, the reactant
that produces the least amount of product is called
the limiting reactant, and the reactant that gives
the greater amount of product is the excess
reactant.
1. Silver nitrate, AgNO3, reacts with ferric chloride, FeCl3,
to give silver chloride, AgCl, and ferric nitrate, Fe(NO3)3. In
a particular experiment, it was planned to mix a solution
containing 25.0 g of AgNO3 with another solution containing
45.0 grams of FeCl3.
a) Write the chemical equation for the reaction.
b) Which reactant is the limiting reactant?
c) What is the maximum number of moles of AgCl that
could be obtained from this mixture?
d) What is the maximum number of grams of AgCl that
could be obtained?
e) How many grams of the reactant in excess will remain
after the reaction is over?
f. What is the percent yield if 20 grams of AgCl is obtained from
the reaction?
 C3H8 + O2  CO2 + H2O

a. If you start with 5 grams C3H8, what is the

theoretical yield of water?
b. I got a percent yield of 75 %. How many
grams of water did I make?
 NaCl + CaO  CaCl2 + Na2O

a. What is the theoretical yield of sodium oxide

if you start with 20 grams of the CaO?