CHEM 111

General Chemistry
CHAPTER-3
Chemical Equations and reactions
stoichiometry

Dr. Ahmed H. Birima

Associate prof.
Department of Civil engineering
 Chemical reaction
• A chemical change occurs when some substances (it could even be the
same substance) come into contact, the chemical bonds of the substances
break, and the atoms that compose the compounds separate and
rearrange themselves into new compounds with new chemical bonds.
When this process occurs, we call it a chemical reaction.

• To describe a chemical reaction, we need to indicate what substances

were present at the beginning and what substances were present at the
end.

• The substances that were present at the beginning are called reactants
and the substances present at the end are called products.

• In many chemical reactions, it is necessary not only to name the reactants

and products but also to indicate the phase of each substance.
 CHEMICAL EQUATIONS
Chemical equations are used to describe chemical reactions

This example illustrates the fundamental aspects of any chemical equation:

1. The substances undergoing reaction are called reactants, and their formulas are placed
on the left side of the equation.

2. The substances generated by the reaction are called products, and their formulas are
placed on the right sight of the equation.

3. Plus signs (+) separate individual reactant and product formulas, and an arrow (⟶)
separates the reactant and product (left and right) sides of the equation.

4. The relative numbers of reactant and product species are represented by coefficients
(numbers placed immediately to the left of each formula). A coefficient of 1 is typically
omitted.
 Physical state (phase) of the substrates in the chemical
equation
The physical state of a substance in the chemical equation is indicated by the
following symbols:
• (s) For solid state;
• (ℓ) for liquid state;
• (g) for gaseous state;
• (aq) for substances in aqueous solution, and
• The Greek letter delta (Δ) represents heat.

Note: States (phases) are not always given in chemical equations.

Balancing chemical Equations
• The balanced chemical equation, meaning that – both on the reactant and product
sides , there are equal numbers of atoms for each element
• This is a requirement the equation must satisfy to be consistent with the law of
conservation of matter.
• It may be confirmed by simply summing the numbers of atoms on either side of the
arrow and comparing these sums to ensure they are equal.
• Note that the number of atoms for a given element is calculated by multiplying the
coefficient of any formula containing that element by the element’s subscript in the
formula.
• If an element appears in more than one formula on a given side of the equation, the
number of atoms represented in each must be computed and then added together

Left Right
Balancing chemical Equations

Balanced?
 Balancing chemical Equations

Step 1 : Write down your given equation

Step 2 : Write down the number of atoms
per element

Step 3 : Keep hydrogen and oxygen for last,

as they are often on both sides.
 Balancing chemical Equations
Step 3: Start with the first single elements

Example: Use a coefficient to balance the

single carbon atom

Step4 : Balance the hydrogen atoms next

Step 5 : Balance the oxygen atoms last

Balanced equation is
• The halogens are a group in the periodic table consisting of six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine
(I), astatine (At), and Tennessee (Ts)

• The word "halogen" means "salt former" or "salt maker". When halogens react with metals, they produce a wide range of salts,
including calcium fluoride, sodium chloride (common table salt), silver bromide and potassium iodide
Appendix V
* The equation tell us that 1 mole of nitrogen reacts with 3 mole of hydrogen to produce
2 mole of ammonia
 Or

Or

The equation tell us that 2 moles of hydrogen reacts with 1 mole of oxygen to produce 2
moles of water
Also
We can say that 4 g of hydrogen reacts with 32 g of oxygen to produce 36 g of water
Consider the following reaction
Mole or mass ratio (n)

𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑/𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒

𝑛=
𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒
or
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑/𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒(𝑔)
𝑛=
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒 (𝑔)

Where, n = mole or mass ratio

Example

1 mol of CH4 ( reacts with oxygen) produced 2 mol of H2O

Mole ratio, n = 2/1 =2

So 3.5 moles CH4 produced = 3.5 x n = 3.5 x 2= 7 moles H2O

Example

1 mole of CH4 completely react with 2 moles of O2

Mole ratio, n = 2/1 =2

So for 1.20 moles CH4 require = 1.20 x n=1.20 x 2=2.4 moles oxygen

However, we are asked about the mass of oxygen. Therefore we calculate the mass of
2.40 moles of O2 i.e 2.4 O2
= 2.40 x 16x 2
=76.8 g Answer
Example
Example

16 g 64 g

1 mole of CH4 = 12+ 1x4 = 16 g 2 mole of 2O2 = 2x 16 x 2 = 64 g

16 g of CH4 completely react with 64 g of Oxygen

Mass ratio, n = 64/16 = 4

So for 24.0 g CH4 require = 24x n = 24x 4 = 96 g oxygen

Example
Example

1 mole of Mg (OH)2 = 24 + (16+1) x 2 = 58 g 2 mole of HCl i.e 2HCl = 2 x( 1+34.5) = 71 g

58 g of Mg (OH)2 completely react with 71 g of HCl

Mass ratio, n = 71/58 = 1.22

So for 1 g Mg (OH)2 require = 1 x 1.22 = 1.22 g HCl

Example

1 mol 2 mol

1 mole of Fe2O3 = 56x 2 + 16x3 = 160 g

2 mole of Fe i.e 2Fe = 2 x 56 = 112 g

160 g of Fe2O3 produce 112 g of Fe

Mass ratio = 112/160 = 0.7

So, 1 kg (1000g) Fe2O3 produce = 1000x 0.7 = 700 g Fe

Example

2 mol 3 mol

Mass ratio, n = 3/2 = 1.5

So for 10 mole Cu2S require = 10x 1.5 = 15 mol O2

Problem: Copper metal reacts with nitric acid. Assume that the
reaction is

3Cu(s) + 8HNO3(aq) → 3Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2NO(g) + 4H2O(l)

If 6.01 g Cu(NO3)2 is eventually obtained, how many grams of nitrogen

monoxide, NO, would have formed?
Limiting Reactant
Limiting Reactant
Limiting Reactant

According to the balanced reaction 1.0 mol of CH4 requires 2.0 mole of O2 for complete
reaction
But

CH4 (Mol) O2 (Mol)

We have 1.0 1.5
We need 1.0 2.0
Ratio 1.0/1.0 =1.0 1.5/2.0=0.75

0.75 (O2) < 1.0 (CH4)

We are in short of O2. So O2 is the limiting reactant
Limiting Reactant

1 mol 2 mol 1 mol

16 g 64 g 44g

At, first determine the limiting reactants

According to the previous example, O2 is the limiting reactants
because

Our further calculation will be based on limiting reactant. Here O2 is the limiting reactant
2 mol of O2 produce 1 mol of CO2
Or
64 g O2 produces 44 g CO2

Mass ratio n = 44/64 = 0.687

So 48 g O2 produce 48 x 0.687 = 33 g CO2

Limiting Reactant

CH4 (Mol) O2 (Mol)

We have 1.0 4.0
We need 1.0 2.0
Ratio 1.0/1.0 =1.0 4.0/2.0 =2.0

1.0 (CH4) < 2.0 (O2) , So CH4 is the limiting reactant

Our further calculation will be based on limiting reactant. Here CH4 is the limiting reactant
1 mol of CH4 produce 1 mol of CO2
Or
16g CH4 produces 44 g CO2
Mass ratio n = 44/16 = 2.75
So 16 g CH4 produce 16 x 2.75 = 44 g CO2
3.96 Hydrogen cyanide, HCN, is prepared from ammonia, air, and natural
gas (CH4) by the following process:

2NH3(g) + 3O2(g) 2CH4(g)→ 2HCN(g) + 6H2O(g)

Hydrogen cyanide is used to prepare sodium cyanide, which is used in

part to obtain gold from gold-containing rock. If a reaction vessel contains
11.5 g NH3, 12.0 g O2, and 10.5 g CH4, what is the maximum mass in grams
of hydrogen cyanide that could be made, assuming the reaction goes to
completion as written?