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Chapter 4

Stoichiometry of Chemical Reactions

Objectives:
-Balancing Chemical Reactions
-Limiting Reagents
-Ions in aqueous rxns
-Electrolytes
-Solubility rules
-Precipitation rxns
-Acid-base rxns
-Oxidation-reduction rxns

Chemical Reactions and Chemical Equations:

-representation of a chemical rxn in terms of chemical formulas

Na (s)+ H2O  NaOH (aq) + H2 (g)

What are the reactants or starting materials? …………………………..

What are the products? ……………………………

H2O2 (aq)  H2O (l) + O2 (g)

Do you see anything wrong with the above rxn?

Balancing Chemical Equations:

CH4 + O2  CO2 + H2O

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C4H8 + O2  CO2 + H2O

H3PO3  H3PO4 + PH3

Ca + H2O  Ca(OH)2 (g) + H2

Fe2(SO4)3 + NH3 + H2O  Fe(OH)3 + (NH4 )2 SO4

Stoichiometry:

-Stoichiometry is the quantitative study of reactants and products in a

chemical rxn.

-Mole Method: the stoichiometric coefficients in a chemical equation can be

interpreted as the number of moles of each substance.

Figure ………

Five steps:

1. Write the correct chemical formulas for both reactants and products.

2. Convert the quantities into moles.

3. Use the proper conversion factors using the coefficients from the
balanced equation.

4. The calculated # of moles is now converted to the required unit for the
unknown quantities.

5. Make sure you have the proper unit.

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N2 (g) + 3 H2(g) → 2 NH3 (g)

Mol ____ __________
Mass, g ____ __________

Problem: Silicon tetrachloride is prepared according to the following rxn:

Si (s) + Cl2 (g)  Si Cl4 (l)

How many moles of molecular chlorine were used to produce 0.507 mol of
SiCl4?

Amounts of Substances in a Chemical Reaction:

Consider the following generic reaction,

A → B

Assume a certain mass of A is converted to B through a chemical process.

We are interested to know how much of product B is formed.

Mass A  Mol A  Mol B  Mass B

Problem: Consider the following reaction:

Fe2O3 (s) + 3CO (g) → 2Fe (s) + 3 CO2 (g)

How many grams of iron can be produced from 1.00 x 103 g Fe2O3?
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Problem: Which of the following statements is correct for the following

reaction?
4NH3 (g) + 5 O2 (g)  4NO (g) + 6H2O (g)

a. 6 g H2O are produced for every 4 g of NH3 reacted.

b. 1 mol of NO is produced per mole of NH3 reacted.
c. 2 mol of NO are produced for every 3 mol O2 reacted.

Limiting Reagents:

-The reactant used up first is called limiting reagent.

-Excess reagents are the reactants present in quantities more than necessary
to react with the quantities of the limiting reagent.

Problem: Urea (NH2)2CO is prepared by reacting ammonia with CO2:

NH3 (g) + CO2 (g)  (NH2)2 CO (aq) + H2O

613.4 g ammonia are allowed to react w/ 1452 g CO2.

a. Which one is the limiting reagent?

b. Calculate the mass of urea formed.

c. How much of the excess reagent (in g) is left at the end of the rxn?
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Reaction Yield:

-The amount of limiting reagent at the start of a rxn determines the

theoretical yield. This is when all limiting reagent reacts to form the
products.

-This is the maximum obtainable yield.

-In practice, the amount of product obtained is almost always less than
theoretical yields. This is called actual yield.

Percent yield:

% yield = (actual yield / theoretical yield) x 100%

Ex: Titanium is prepared according to the following rxn:

TiCl4 (g) + 2 Mg (l)  Ti(s) + 2MgCl2 (l)

If 3.54 x10 7 g of TiCl4 are reacted w/ 1.13x107 g of Mg,

a. calculate the theoretical yield of Ti in grams.
b. calculate the %yield if 7.91 x 106 g of Ti are obtained.
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Solutions of sodium hypochlorite, NaClO, are sold as bleach (such as

Clorox). They are prepared by the reaction of chlorine with sodium
hydroxide. If you have 1.23 mol of NaOH in solution and 1.47 mol Cl2 gas
available to react, which is the limiting reactant? How many moles of
NaClO could be obtained?

General Properties of Aqueous Solutions

-A victim was electrocuted in his bathtub.

-Pure water
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-A substance that is dissolved in water or some other medium is called a

…………….., and water is called ……………..

-When solutes made up of ions are dissolved in water, ……………. are

released into the water.

-When solutes made of molecules are dissolved in water, …..………… are

released into the water.

-When an ionic ……………. dissolves into water, the …………...…. are

released from their crystal structure and are free to move throughout the
solution.

-To show that the substance is soluble in water its formula must be followed
by “(aq)”.

-The compounds that can completely ionize in water are called strong
electrolytes. They are good conductors of electricity.

Ex:
CaCl2 (s)  Ca2+ (aq) + 2 Cl- (aq)

Figure 4.1

-The solution is a strong electrolytes b/c of the formation of ions in water or

aqueous solution.

-Let’s look at the solution of methanol (used in car window washer soln.) in
water. The following equation shows the shorthand notation for this process:

CH3OH (l)  CH3OH (aq)

Since the solution of methanol in water does NOT produce any ions, the
solution is nonelectrolytes. Another word, it does not conduct electricity.

Problem: Write down balanced rxns for the following ionic species
dissolved in water:

a) sodium bromide
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b) barium fluoride

c) potassium iodide

Strong and Weak Electrolytes:

-A ………………………. electrolyte is an electrolyte that exists in solution

almost entirely as ions. Most ionic solids in water completely dissociates as
ions.

EX: NaBr (s) → …………… + ……………..

-A ………………….. electrolyte forms a relatively small percent of ions.

- ………………….. electrolytes are generally molecular substances.

Ex: The reaction of ammonia gas with water to yield ammonium and
hydroxide ions.

-Table 4.1

Solubility Rules:

-Substances have different solubility in water.

-Ethyl alcohol dissolves readily in water and is said to be soluble.

-Benzene (…………….) has very limited solubility in water and is said to

be insoluble.

-When two ionic substances are mixed in water, there is a chance

that an insoluble solid formed that precipitate out, and is ionic. For
instance, sodium iodide reacts with silver nitrate in aqueous
solution to form a precipitate of AgI. The reaction is:
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AgI is a precipitate (solid), the other species involved in this rxn are soluble
in water.

-How do we know which substances are soluble in water?

Answer: Memorize Table 4.1

-Figure ………

Molecular and Ionic Equations:

-Consider dissolution of sugar in water. This is an example of

molecular rxn. Reaction of ethanol in water is also another
example of molecular dissolution.

-For a rxn involving ions, the rxn can be represented by either a molecular
equation, or a net ionic equation.

Molecular Equation:

Ex:
Ca(OH)2 (aq) + Na2CO3 (aq) → CaCO3 (s) + ………….

Net Ionic Equation:

-Strong electrolytes, like ionic compounds, are written as separate ions in

solution.

-Any insoluble solid substance is written in molecular form.

-Write the net ionic form for the strong electrolytes in the above rxn.
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-Ions OH- and Na+ appear on both sides of equation. So nothing happens to
these ions as the rxn occurs. They are called spectator ions.

-Cancel similar ions from both sides.

-What remains is the net ionic equation.

Problem: Write balanced net ionic equations for the following:

a. calcium chloride and sodium carbonate

b. lead (II) nitrate and potassium hydroxide solutions

c. barium bromide and ammonium carbonate

d. silver nitrate and potassium sulfide

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Types of Chemical Rxns:

1. Precipitation Rxns: Two ionic substances are mixed, and a solid

ionic substance forms.

-A precipitate is formed during the process.

-You must be able to recall the solubility rules.

Ex:
MgBr2 + AgNO3 

Write the net ionic equation for the above process.

Problem: 1) Complete and balance the following rxn. 2) Write a net ionic
equation for the rxn.

Aluminum sulfate + sodium hydroxide 

2. Acid-Base Rxns:
As discussed earlier, acids are substances that ionic in water to produce
H+ (proton), and a base is a compound that forms OH- (hydroxide) in
water.
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Examples are HCl and Ca(OH)2.

Bronsted Acids and Bases:

Arrhenius definitions of acids and bases are limited to that in water. Broader
definitions were defined by Bronsted.

-Bronsted acid is a proton donor (gives away H+).

-Bronsted base is a proton acceptor (accepts H+).

Examples of acid

HCl 

HNO3 

CH3COOH ====

H2SO4 

HSO4 – =====

H3PO4 ===

H2PO4 – ====

HPO4 2- ====

HCl is called a monoprotic acid.

H2SO4 is called a …………… acid.

H3PO4 is called a ………… acid.

-Table ………..
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Examples of bases:

NaOH 

NH3 + H2O ======

Acid-Base Neutralization

In general:

acid + base  salt + H2O

Examples:

HCl (aq) + NaOH (aq) 

Net Ionic

…………………………………

HCN (aq) + LiOH (aq) 

HBr (aq) + Ba(OH)2 

Acid-Base reactions Leading to Gas Formation:

-Certain salts like carbonates (containing CO3 2- ions), bicarbonates

(containing HCO3 – ion), sulfites (containing SO3 2- ion), and sulfides
(containing S 2- ions) react with acids to form gaseous products.

Ex:

Na2CO3 (aq) + HCl (aq) 

Na2S (aq) + HBr (aq) 

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Na2SO3 (aq) + HI 

Strong acids: Hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water, and produces H+ and

Cl- ions.

Hydrochloric acid is called a strong acid b/c it dissociates completely to H +

and Cl- ions.

-If 2.0 moles HCl is dissolved in water, the solution produces ………. moles
of H+ and ……….. moles of Cl-.

-How many strong acids are there? ………………

-Do we need to know them by heart? …………….

-What are the strong acids?

Hydrochloric acid

Hydrobromic acid

Hydroiodic acid

Nitric acid

Perchloric acid

Sulfuric acid
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-When these acids are dissolved in water, they dissociate completely

forming H+ and anions. They are strong electrolytes, i.e, they conduct
electricity.

Weak acids: These are the acids that dissociate partially in water; i.e., only a
small fraction of all of the acid molecules present in solution actually reacts
with the solvent.

-The general ionization of a weak acid in water is:

HB (aq) H+ (aq) + B- (aq)

Ex: HF is a weak acid and the reaction of HF in water is:

-What are the weak acids?

-Base: A base will be defined as any substance that produces hydroxide ion
or proton acceptor.

Ex: Sodium hydroxide is an ionic compound containing metal ion (……..)

and anion, ……….. Sodium hydroxide is a base b/c ………………………

NaOH (aq)  ………(aq) + ………….(aq)

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Strong bases vs. weak bases:

-A strong base in water is ionized completely to form …………………. and

…………..
-How many strong bases are there? …………..

lithium hydroxide

sodium hydroxide

potassium hydroxide

calcium hydroxide

strontium hydroxide

barium hydroxide

-These bases in water are ……………………. electrolytes.

-A weak base in water dissociates only partially. The water molecule is

involved in the reaction. Ammonia is a weak base and in water it forms
……… and …………… ions.

-Can you write a rxn between ammonia and water?

-What are the weak bases?

Neutralization Reactions:

-An acid reacts w/ a base to form water and a …………..

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-Ex: Write a reaction between sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid in

water.

-We have to keep in mind that NaOH and HCl, and NaCl are strong
electrolytes. They would break down to their ionic species.

Problem: Complete and balance the following reactions:

1. HBr(aq) + LiOH (aq) 

2. Ba(OH)2 (aq) + H3PO4 (aq) 

3. HNO3 (aq) + NaOH (aq) 

4. KOH (aq) + H2CO3 (aq) 

5. H2SO4 (aq) + Ca(OH)2 

-Acids such as HCl, HBr, and HNO3 are called ……… acids b/c they have
one acidic hydrogen per molecule.

-A polyprotic acid is an acid that yields two or more acidic hydrogen per
molecule.

H3PO4 (aq) + NaOH(aq) 

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H3PO4 (aq) + 2 NaOH(aq) 

H3PO4 (aq) + 3 NaOH(aq) 

Acid-Base Reactions with Gas Formation:

-Some salts such as carbonates, sulfites, and sulfides react w/acids to form a
gaseous product.

Sodium carbonate + hydrochloric acid 

Baking soda + hydrobromic acid 

Sodium sulfite + hydrochloric acid 

Sodium sulfide + Sulfuric acid 

3. Oxidation-Reduction Reactions:

-Another type of reaction in water is oxidation-reduction (redox).

-There is an electron exchange between two reactants.

-One species loses electrons and is said to be oxidized.

-The other species gains the electrons and is said to be reduced.

-Ex: Consider the following rxn:

Zn (s) + HCl (aq)  ZnCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

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-Balance the reaction.

-Write a net ionic equation:

-The zinc atoms …………… electrons; they are ………………. to ……..

ions.

-The hydrogen escapes from the solution as gas.

-Can you write the equation for the formation of hydrogen gas from the
above chemical process?

-Oxidation and reduction occur together.

-The species that is reduced is called an ……..………….. agent.

-The species that is oxidized is called a …………..…….. agent.

-The term oxidation rxn refers to the half-rxn that involves loss of
electron(s).

-A reduction is a half-rxn that involves gain of electron(s).

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COMMON SENSE:
-The number of electrons loss must be equal to the number of electrons
gained.

Ex:

1. Zn (s) + CuSO4 (aq)  ZnSO4 (aq) + Cu (s)

2. Cu (s) + AgNO3 (aq)  Cu(NO3 )2 (aq) + Ag (s)

Oxidation Number:

-The oxidation number allows us to keep track of the electron exchange in a

redox rxn.

-To keep track of e's in redox rxns.

-The number of charges the atom would have in a molecular or ionic

compound if electrons were transferred completely.

Ex:
H2 (g) + Cl2(g)  2 HCl (g)
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OR S(s) + O2 (g)  SO2 (g)

The numbers above the element symbols are the oxidation numbers.

RULES:

1. In free elements each atom has an oxidation number of zero.

Ex: H2, O2, Be, Na, N2, Fe, B, Al

2. For ions composed of only one type of atom, the oxidation number is
equal to the charge on the ion.

Ex: Fe2+ , O2-, H+, Al3+

3. The oxidation number of oxygen in most compounds is -2.

Exception: Peroxide

4. The oxidation number of hydrogen is +1, except when it is bonded to

metals. In these cases (LiH, NaH, BaH2), the oxidation number is -1.

5. Fluorine has an oxidation number of -1 in all its compounds. Other

halogens have negative oxidation numbers in binary compounds. They
have positive oxidation number when combined w/ oxygen.

Ex:

6. In a neutral molecule, the sum of the oxidation numbers of all the atoms
must be zero.

In a polyatomic ion, the sum of oxidation numbers of all the elements in the
ion must be equal to the net charge of the ion.
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Ex: NH4 +

SO42-

7. Oxidation numbers do not have to be integers. For example, the oxidation

number of O in the superoxide ion, O2 - is - 1/2.

EX:

Some Common Oxidation-Reduction Reactions:

a. Combination Rxns:

2Na (s) + Cl2 (g) →

S (s) + O2 (g)  SO2 (g)

2Sb + 3Cl2 →

N2 (g) + 3 H2 (g) 2NH3 (g)

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b. Decomposition Reactions:

KClO3 (s)

HgO (s)

CaCO3 (s)

c. Displacement Reactions:
a. Hydrogen Displacement

2 Na (s) + 2H2O

Zn (s) + HCl
-Figure 4.15

b. Halogen Displacement:

F2 > Cl2 >Br2 > I2

Cl2 (g) + 2KBr (aq)

Cl2 (g) + 2I- (aq)

Br2 (l) + 2I- (aq)

I2 (s) + Cl- (aq)

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[Link] Rxn:

-An element in one oxidation state is simultaneously oxidized and reduced.

2H2O2 (aq) 2H2O (l) + O2 (g)

e. Combustion Reactions:

-Reaction with oxygen gas; this would result in rapid release of heat.

-Formation of one or more oxides.

Ex:

Balancing Simple Oxidation-Reduction Equations:

-A reaction must be both mass as well as charge balanced.

-Consider the following rxn:

Zn (s) + Ag+ (aq) → Zn2+ (aq) + Ag (s)

This rxn is not …………………. balanced.

-Write the two half reactions.

-The number of electrons lost and gained must be equal.

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-Add up the oxidation and reduction half reactions. Make sure there are no
electrons showing in the overall reaction.

Gravimetric Analysis:

-An analytical technique base on the measurement of mass.

-The procedure provides an accurate measurement.

-Amount of Pb2+ in water is determined by its rxn w/ sodium sulfate:

Na2SO4 (aq) + Pb(NO3)2 → +

Problem: A 1.00-L sample of polluted water was analyzed for Pb2+, by

addition of an excess sodium sulfate to it. The mass of lead(II)sulfate that
precipitated was 229.8 mg. What is the mass of lead in a liter of water,
mg/L?

Acid-Base Titrations

In titration, a solution of accurately known concentration, called a standard

solution, is added to gradually to another solution of unknown concentration,
until the chemical reaction between the two solutions is complete. If we
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know the volumes of standard solution and unknown, along with the
concentration of the standard solution, we can calculate the concentration of
the unknown solution.

-Figure 4.21

-To calculate the volume of a solution that is equal to a given mass of solute
-Indicators are compounds that have different colors in acidic and basic
media.

Problem: How many grams of a hydrochloric acid solution are needed to

neutralize 17.2 mL of a 0.127 M KOH solution?

Problem: If 60.2 mL of 0.427 M KOH solution are required to neutralize

10.1 mL of H2SO4 solution, what is the concentration of H2SO4 solution?

Redox Titrations

As mentioned earlier, redox reactions involve the transfer of electrons, and

acid-base reactions involve the transfer of protons.
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-We sometimes need indicator for redox reactions as was the case for acid-
base reactions. Certain chemicals can act as their own indicator.
For example, MnO4 – is purple and Mn 2+ is pink. So when MnO4 – is
converted to Mn 2+, the color change from purple to pink indicates the
completion of reaction. Similarly, Cr2O7 2- is yellow, and Cr 3+ is green.

Problem: Calculate the volume (mL) of a 0.206 M HI are needed to reduce

22.5 mL of 0.374 M KMnO4 solution according to the following reaction.

10 HI + 2KMnO4 + 3H2SO4  2MnSO4 + K2SO4 + 8H2O + 5I2