12.

3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield >

Chapter 12
Stoichiometry

12.1 The Arithmetic of Equations

12.2 Chemical Calculations

12.3 Limiting Reagent and

Percent Yield

1 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > CHEMISTRY & YOU

What determines how much product

you can make?

If a carpenter had two

tabletops and seven
table legs, he would
have difficulty building
more than one functional
four-legged table.

2 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

Limiting and Excess Reagents

How is the amount of product in
a reaction affected by an
insufficient quantity of any of the
reactants?

3 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

To make tacos, you need enough meat,

cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream,
salsa, and seasonings.

4 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

To make tacos, you need enough meat,

cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream,
salsa, and seasonings.
• If you have only 2 taco shells, the quantity of
taco shells will limit the number of tacos you can
make.

5 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

To make tacos, you need enough meat,

cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream,
salsa, and seasonings.
• If you have only 2 taco shells, the quantity of
taco shells will limit the number of tacos you can
make.
• Thus, the taco shells are the limiting ingredient.

6 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

In a chemical reaction, an insufficient

quantity of any of the reactants will
limit the amount of product that forms.

7 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

A balanced chemical equation is a chemist’s recipe.

Chemical Equations
N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g)
“Microscopic recipe” 1 molecule N2 + 3 molecules H2 2 molecules NH3
“Macroscopic recipe” 1 mol N2 + 3 mol H2 2 mol NH3

8 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

A balanced chemical equation is a chemist’s recipe.

Chemical Equations
N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g)
“Microscopic recipe” 1 molecule N2 + 3 molecules H2 2 molecules NH3
“Macroscopic recipe” 1 mol N2 + 3 mol H2 2 mol NH3

• What would happen if two molecules (moles) of N2

reacted with three molecules (moles) of H2?
Experimental Conditions
Reactants Products

Before reaction
2 molecules N2 3 molecules H2 0 molecules NH3

9 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

Experimental Conditions
Reactants Products

Before reaction
2 molecules N2 3 molecules H2 0 molecules NH3

After reaction
1 molecule N2 0 molecules H2 2 molecules NH3

• Before the reaction takes place, N2 and H2 are present

in a 2:3 molecule (mole) ratio.
• As the reaction takes place, one molecule (mole) of N2
reacts with 3 molecules (moles) of H2 to produce two
molecules (moles) of NH3.

10 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

Experimental Conditions
Reactants Products

Before reaction
2 molecules N2 3 molecules H2 0 molecules NH3

After reaction
1 molecule N2 0 molecules H2 2 molecules NH3

• All the H2 has now been used up, and the reaction stops.
• One molecule (mole) of unreacted N2 is left in addition to
the two molecules (moles) of NH3 that have been
produced by the reaction.

11 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

Experimental Conditions
Reactants Products

Before reaction
2 molecules N2 3 molecules H2 0 molecules NH3

After reaction
1 molecule N2 0 molecules H2 2 molecules NH3

• In this reaction, only the hydrogen is completely used up.

• H2 is the limiting reagent, or the reactant that
determines the amount of product that can be formed by
a reaction.

12 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Limiting and
Excess Reagents

Experimental Conditions
Reactants Products

Before reaction
2 molecules N2 3 molecules H2 0 molecules NH3

After reaction
1 molecule N2 0 molecules H2 2 molecules NH3

• The reactant that is not completely used up in a

reaction is called the excess reagent.
• In this example, nitrogen is the excess reagent
because some nitrogen remains unreacted.

13 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > CHEMISTRY & YOU

What determines how much product

you can make in a chemical reaction?

14 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > CHEMISTRY & YOU

What determines how much product

you can make in a chemical reaction?

A limited quantity of any of

the reactants that are
needed to make a product
will limit the amount of
product that forms.

15 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.8

Determining the Limiting Reagent in a Reaction

Copper reacts with sulfur to form

copper(I) sulfide according to the
following balanced equation:

2Cu(s) + S(s)  Cu2S(s)

What is the limiting reagent when
80.0 g Cu reacts with 25.0 g S?

16 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.8

1 Analyze List the knowns and the unknown.

The number of moles of each reactant must first be
found. The balanced equation is used to calculate the
number of moles of one reactant needed to react with
the given amount of the other reactant.

KNOWNS UNKNOWN
mass of copper = 80.0 g Cu limiting reagent = ?
mass of sulfur = 25.0 g S
molar mass of Cu = 63.5 g/mol
molar mass of S = 32.1 g/mol
1 mol S/2 mol Cu
17 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.8

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Start with one of the reactants and
convert from mass to moles.

1 mol Cu
80.0 g Cu  63.5 g Cu = 1.26 mol Cu

18 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.8

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Then, convert the mass of the other
reactant to moles.

1 mol S
25.0 g S  32.1 g S = 0.779 mol S

19 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.8

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Now, convert moles of Cu to moles of S
needed to react with 1.25 moles of Cu.

1 mol S
1.26 mol Cu  2 mol Cu = 0.630 mol S
Given Mole Needed
quantity ratio amount

20 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.8

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Compare the amount of sulfur needed with the
given amount of sulfur.
0.630 mol S (amount needed to react)
<0.779 mol S (given amount)
Sulfur is in excess, so copper is the
limiting reagent.
It doesn’t matter which reactant you use. If you
used the actual amount of moles of S to find
the amount of copper needed, then you would
still identify copper as the limiting reagent.
21 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.8

3 Evaluate Do the results make sense?

Since the ratio of the given mol Cu to mol S
was less than the ratio (2:1) from the
balanced equation, copper should be the
limiting reagent.

22 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.9

Using Limiting Reagent to Find the Quantity of

a Product

What is the maximum number of

grams of Cu2S that can be formed
when 80.0 g Cu reacts with 25.0
g S?

2Cu(s) + S(s)  Cu2S(s)

23 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.9

1 Analyze List the knowns and the unknown.

The limiting reagent, which was determined in
the previous sample problem, is used to
calculate the maximum amount of Cu2S formed.

KNOWNS
limiting reagent = 1.26 mol Cu (from sample problem 12.8)
1 mol Cu2S = 159.1 g Cu2S (molar mass)
1 mol Cu2S/2 mol Cu (mole ratio from balanced equation)
UNKNOWN
Yield = ? g Cu2S
24 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.9

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Start with the moles of the limiting reagent
and convert to moles of the product. Use the
mole ratio from the balanced equation.

1 mol Cu2S
1.26 mol Cu  2 mol Cu

25 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.9

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Finish the calculation by converting from
moles to mass of product.

1 mol Cu2S 159.1 g Cu2S

1.26 mol Cu  2 mol Cu  1 mol Cu S
2

= 1.00  102 g Cu2S

26 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.9

3 Evaluate Do the results make sense?

• Copper is the limiting reagent in this
reaction. The maximum number of grams
of Cu2S produced should be more than
the amount of copper that initially reacted
because copper is combining with sulfur.
• However, the mass of Cu2S produced
should be less than the total mass of the
reactants (105.0 g) because sulfur was in
excess.
27 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield >

Rust forms when iron, oxygen, and water react.

One chemical equation for the formation of rust is
2Fe + O2 + 2H2O  2Fe(OH)2

If 7.0 g of iron and 9.0 g of water are available to

react, which is the limiting reagent?

28 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield >

Rust forms when iron, oxygen, and water react.

One chemical equation for the formation of rust is
2Fe + O2 + 2H2O  2Fe(OH)2

If 7.0 g of iron and 9.0 g of water are available to

react, which is the limiting reagent?

1 mol Fe 2 mol H2O 18.0 g H2O

7.00 g Fe  55.85 g Fe  2 mol Fe  1 mol H2O = 2.26 g H20

Only 2.26 g H2O are needed to react with 7.0 g Fe.

Therefore, Fe is the limiting reagent.
29 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

Percent Yield
What does the percent yield of
a reaction measure?

30 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

Percent Yield
What does the percent yield of
a reaction measure?

• A batting
average is
actually a
percent yield.

31 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

When a balanced chemical equation is used

to calculate the amount of product that will
form during a reaction, the calculated value
represents the theoretical yield.

32 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

When a balanced chemical equation is used

to calculate the amount of product that will
form during a reaction, the calculated value
represents the theoretical yield.
• The theoretical yield is the maximum amount
of product that could be formed from given
amounts of reactants.
• The amount of product that actually forms
when the reaction is carried out in the
laboratory is called the actual yield.
33 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

The percent yield is the ratio of the actual

yield to the theoretical yield expressed as a
percent.

actual yield
percent yield =  100%
theoretical yield

Because the actual yield of a chemical reaction

is often less than the theoretical yield, the
percent yield is often less than 100%.
34 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

The percent yield is a measure of

the efficiency of a reaction carried
out in the laboratory.

35 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

The percent yield is a measure of

the efficiency of a reaction carried
out in the laboratory.
The mass of
one of the
The mass products, the
of the actual yield,
reactant is is measured.
measured. The percent
yield is
calculated.
The reactant
is heated.
36 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Percent Yield

Many factors cause percent yields to be

less than 100%.
• Reactions do not always go to completion; when a
reaction is incomplete, less than the calculated amount
of product is formed.
• Impure reactants and competing side reactions may
cause unwanted products to form.
• Actual yield can be lower than the theoretical yield due
to a loss of product during filtration or in transferring
between containers.
• If reactants or products have not been carefully
measured, a percent yield of 100% is unlikely.
37 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.10

Calculating the Theoretical Yield of a Reaction

Calcium carbonate, which is found in

seashells, is decomposed by
heating. The balanced equation for
this reaction is

CaCO3(s)  CaO(s) + CO2(g)

What is the theoretical yield of CaO if

24.8 g CaCO3 is heated?

38 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.10

1 Analyze List the knowns and the unknown.

Calculate the theoretical yield using the mass of the
reactant.

KNOWNS
mass of CaCO3 = 24.8 g CaCO3
1 mol CaCO3 = 100.1 g CaCO3 (molar mass)
1 mol CaO = 56.1 g CaO (molar mass)
1 mol CaO/1 mol CaCO3 (mole ratio from balanced equation)
UNKNOWN
theoretical yield = ? g CaO

39 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.10

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Start with the mass of the reactant and
convert to moles of the reactant.

1 mol CaCO3
24.8 g CaCO3  100.1 g CaCO
3

40 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.10

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Next, convert to moles of the product
using the mole ratio.

1 mol CaCO3 1 mol CaO

24.8 g CaCO3  100.1 g CaCO  1 mol CaCO
3 3

41 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.10

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Finish by converting from moles to mass

of the product.

1 mol CaCO3 1 mol CaO 56.1 g CaO

24.8 g CaCO3  100.1 g CaCO  1 mol CaCO  1 mol CaO
3 3

If there is an excess of a reactant, = 13.9 g CaO

then there is more than enough of
that reactant and it will not limit the
yield of the reaction.
42 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.10

3 Evaluate Does the result make sense?

• The mole ratio of CaO to CaCO3 is 1:1.

The ratio of their masses in the reaction
should be the same as the ratio of their
molar masses, which is slightly greater
than 1:2.
• The result of the calculations shows that
the mass of CaO is slightly greater than
half the mass of CaCO3.

43 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.11

Calculating the Percent Yield of a Reaction

What is the percent yield if 13.1 g CaO is
actually produced when 24.8 g CaCO3 is
heated?
Calculate the theoretical
yield first. Then you can
calculate the percent yield.


CaCO3(s)  CaO(s) + CO2(g)

44 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.11

1 Analyze List the knowns and the unknown.

Use the equation for percent yield. The theoretical yield for
this problem was calculated in Sample Problem 12.10.

KNOWNS
actual yield = 13.1 g CaO
theoretical yield = 13.9 g CaO (from sample problem 12.10)
actual yield
percent yield = theoretical yield  100%
UNKNOWN
percent yield = ? %

45 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.11

2 Calculate Solve for the unknown.

Substitute the values for actual yield and
theoretical yield into the equation for
percent yield.

13.1 g CaO
percent yield =  100% = 94.2%
13.9 g CaO

46 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Sample Problem 12.11

3 Evaluate Does the result make sense?

• In this example, the actual yield is slightly
less than the theoretical yield.
• Therefore, the percent yield should be
slightly less than 100%.

47 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield >

Carbon tetrachloride, CCl4, is a solvent that

was once used in large amounts in dry
cleaning. One reaction that produces
carbon tetrachloride is
CS2 + 3Cl2  CCl4 + S2Cl2
What is the percent yield of CCl4 if 617 kg
is produced from the reaction of 312 kg of
CS2?

48 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield >

What is the percent yield of CCl4 if

617 kg is produced from the reaction
of 312 kg of CS2?
CS2 + 3Cl2  CCl4 + S2Cl2

1 mol CS2 1 mol CCl4 153.81 g CCl4

3.12  105 g CS2   
76.142 g CS2 1 mol CS2 1 mol CCl4

= 6.30  105 g CCl4 = 630 kg CCl4

617 kg CCl4
Percent yield =  100 = 97.9%
630 kg CCl4
49 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Key Concepts and
Key Equation

In a chemical reaction, an insufficient quantity

of any of the reactants will limit the amount of
product that forms.

The percent yield is a measure of the

efficiency of a reaction performed in the
laboratory.
actual yield
percent yield =  100%
theoretical yield

50 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Glossary Terms

• limiting reagent: any reactant that is used

up first in a chemical reaction; it determines
the amount of product that can be formed
in the reaction
• excess reagent: a reagent present in a
quantity that is more than sufficient to react
with a limiting reagent; any reactant that
remains after the limiting reagent is used
up in a chemical reaction

51 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > Glossary Terms

• theoretical yield: the amount of product that

could form during a reaction calculated from a
balanced chemical equation; it represents the
maximum amount of product that could be
formed from a given amount of reactant
• actual yield: the amount of product that forms
when a reaction is carried out in the laboratory
• percent yield: the ratio of the actual yield to
the theoretical yield for a chemical reaction
expressed as a percentage; a measure of the
efficiency of a reaction

52 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield > BIG IDEA

The Mole and Quantifying Matter

The percent yield of a reaction can be calculated
from the actual yield and theoretical yield of the
reaction.

53 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

12.3 Limiting Reagent and Percent Yield >

END OF 12.3

54 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.