The experiment illustrates the relationship between the limiting reagent and the amount of product produced as a result of a chemical reaction. The chemical reaction was carried out by mixing the solution of Na2CO3 and CaCl2 and the precipitates of CaCO3 were obtained as a product. The experiment was carried out in 4 trials in order to determine the limiting reagent and the actual yield of the product obtained. In the first three trials, Calcium Chloride was the limiting reagent and in the last trial Sodium carbonate was the limiting reagent. The moles of CaCO3 produced for each trial was 0.0008113moles, 0.001188 moles, 0.0004476 moles and 0.0002907moles respectively. The mass of product measured for each trial was 0.0812g, 0.1189g, …show more content…
1 mole of calcium chloride reacts with 1 mole of sodium carbonate and yields the product sodium chloride and calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is insoluble in water hence, it will produce precipitates when the reaction occurs. The reagent with fewest numbers of moles in this reaction will be considered as the limiting reagent. The reagent which has more moles than required and is left at the end of the reaction is called the excess reagent. Using the moles of limiting reagent, the moles of precipitates of calcium carbonate can be found out.
Theoretical yield of a reaction is obtained by understanding the stoichiometry of the reaction, determining which reagent is limiting, and calculating the resulting moles of product. The theoretical yield is obtained by multiplying the moles of product and the molar mass of the product. The actual yield is the one obtained by weighing the product. The percent yield can be given by the equation: % yield = (actual yeild (g))/(theoretical …show more content…
For the first three trials, Calcium Chloride was the limiting reagent and in the last trial Sodium carbonate was the limiting reagent. The moles of CaCO3 produced for each trial was 0.0008113moles, 0.001188 moles, 0.0004476 moles and 0.0002907moles respectively. The mass of product measured for each trial was 0.0812g, 0.1189g, 0.0448g and 0.0291g respectively. The percent yields of the four trials were 63.9%, 88.7%, 89.6% and 30.8%. This shows the comparison between the actual yield and theoretical yield. Thus, the experiment gave an idea about the relation between limiting reagent and the amount of product produced during a chemical