how to calculate the maximum amount of something that can be formed given the grams of the components

Question

anonymous · Answer

First off you need to have a balanced equation for the reaction you are interested in.  Lets use the example:
A + B = P where A and B are any reactants and P is any product.

From this you can see that 1 mole of A + 1 mole of B can produce 1 mole of P.   If you know the molar mass of A and B then you can convert any given mass into a fraction of the molar mass:
mass/molar mass = molar fraction

e.g. if you only have enough mass of A for 0.5 moles then you only have enough to react with 0.5 moles of B and give you 0.5 moles of P.