Question
Which chemical is the limiting reactant in the following reaction if 5.0 g Zn are heated with 2.4 g MoO_(3) 3Zn+2MoO_(3)arrow Mo_(2)O_(3)+3ZnO square
Answer
4.2
(214 Votes)
Aria
Professional · Tutor for 6 years
Answer
Zn
Explanation
## Step 1To find the limiting reactant, we need to first convert the weights of the reactants, Zn and MoO3, to moles. This is done by dividing their weights by their respective molar masses. The molar mass of Zn is 65.38 g/mol and that of MoO3 is 143.94 g/mol.## Step 2The number of moles of Zn can be calculated by dividing the weight of Zn (5.0 g) by its molar mass (65.38 g/mol). This gives approximately 0.0765 moles.## Step 3Similarly, the number of moles of MoO3 can be calculated by dividing the weight of MoO3 (2.4 g) by its molar mass (143.94 g/mol). This gives approximately 0.0167 moles.## Step 4From the balanced chemical equation, we can see that the stoichiometric ratio of Zn to MoO3 is 3:2. This means that for every 3 moles of Zn, we need 2 moles of MoO3 for the reaction to occur.## Step 5Comparing the actual mole ratio of Zn to MoO3 (0.0765:0.0167) with the stoichiometric ratio (3:2), we can see that the actual ratio is less than the stoichiometric ratio. This means that all the Zn will be used up before all the MoO3 is used. Therefore, Zn is the limiting reactant.