Question

Suppose we have, in a container, 2.5 mol of methane and 6.0 mol of oxygen gas. Is one of the reactants limiting? If so, which one?

Answer 1

The balanced equation for the combustion of methane to form carbon dioxide and water is:

CH4 (g) + 2O2 (g) -> CO2 (g) + 2H2O (g)

I'm so confused because in my textbook it says, "To determine which reactant is the limiting one, we can restate the question as: How many moles of oxygen does 2.5 mol of methane need? According to the mole ratio in the balanced equation, 2.5 mol of methane would need 5.0 mol of oxygen because the mole ratio of methane:oxygen is 1:2." Help me understand D:

Answer 2

metahne is the limiting reagent here...limiting eragent is one which consumes completely in a reaction..here you have 2.5mole methane...according to the equation only 5 moles of oxygen is enough for teh reaction...but you have 6 moles of oxygen..at teh end of teh reaction you will have 1 mol of oxygen in your container..ie methane limited the reaction...so methane is the limiting reagent...

Answer 3

why do I only have 5 moles of oxygen? How did they come up with 5 moles for oxygen??

Answer 4

look at stoichiometri ratio....methane :oxygen ratio is 1:2..for 2.5 mole of methane = 5 moles of oxygen...

Answer 5

why is the mole ratio 1:2?

Answer 6

ohhh, i see it 'cause CH4 has 1 mol, and 2 mols for O2

Answer 7

yup