S - Limiting Reactants (Lesson)

Limiting Reactants

Introduction

Imagine that you would like to grill hotdogs for dinner. You have 12 hotdogs and 7 buns. How many hot dogs can you make? Assuming that the hot dogs and buns combine in a 1:1 ratio, you can make 7 hot dogs. The number of hot dogs that you are able to make is limited by the buns. Similarly, chemical reactions may be limited by certain reactants involved in the reaction. We call these limiting reactants. In this lesson you will learn to perform calculations to determine the limiting reactants and excess reactants in chemical reactions.

S'mores Activity

This segment of Chemistry Matters explores limiting reactants as we watch the students perform a lab with s'mores.

Download the note taking guide for Chemistry Matters Unit 6 Segment E. Links to an external site.

Download the key to the questions to consider for Chemistry Matters Unit 6 Segment E. Links to an external site.

Limiting Reactants

Let’s take a closer look at the concept of limiting reactants.

Limiting Reactant Stoichiometry Practice Activity

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