Determine the limiting reactant in a mixture containing 95.7 g of B2O3, 75.7 g of C, and 369 g of Cl2. Calculate the maximum mass (in grams) of boron trichloride, BCl3, that can be produced in the reaction. The limiting reactant is:

Answer :

Answer:

[tex]B_2O_3[/tex]

Explanation:

First, we have to find the reaction:

[tex]B_2O_3~+~C~+~Cl_2~->~BCl_3~+~CO[/tex]

The next step is to balance the reaction:

[tex]B_2O_3~+~3C~+~3Cl_2~->~2BCl_3~+~3CO[/tex]

Now, we have to calculate the molar mass for  each compound, so:

[tex]B_2O_3=~69.62~g/mol[/tex]

[tex]C=~12~g/mol[/tex]

[tex]Cl_2=~70.96~g/mol[/tex]

With these values, we can calculate the moles of each compound:

[tex]95.7~g~B_2O_3\frac{1~mol~B_2O_3}{69.62~g~B_2O_3}=1.37~mol~B_2O_3[/tex]

[tex]75.7~g~C\frac{1~mol~C}{112~g~C}=6.30~mol~C[/tex]

[tex]369~g~Cl_2\frac{1~mol~Cl_2}{70.96~g~C}=5.20~mol~Cl_2[/tex]

Now we can divide by the coefficient of each compound in the balanced equation:

[tex]\frac{1.37~mol~B_2O_3}{1}=~1.37[/tex]

[tex]\frac{6.30~mol~C}{3}=~2.1[/tex]

[tex]\frac{5.20~mol~Cl_2}{3}=~1.73[/tex]

The smallest values are for  [tex]B_2O_3[/tex], so this is our limiting reagent.

I hope it heps!

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