Question #dc373

1 Answer

To get the experimental molar ratio, you divide the moles of each reactant that you actually used in the experiment by each other.

Explanation:

EXAMPLE 1

Consider the reaction: 2Al+3I22AlI3

What is the experimental molar ratio of Al to I2 if 1.20 g Al reacts with 2.40 g I2?

Solution

Step 1: Convert all masses into moles.

1.20g Al×1 mol Al26.98g Al=0.044 48 mol Al

2.40g I×1 mol I2253.8g I=0.009 456 mol I2

Step 2: Calculate the molar ratios

To calculate the molar ratios, you put the moles of one reactant over the moles of the other reactant.

This gives you a molar ratio of Al to I2 of 0.044480.009456

Usually, you divide each number in the fraction by the smaller number of moles. This gives a ratio in which no number is less than 1.

The experimental molar ratio of Al to I2 is then 0.044480.009456=4.701 (3 significant figures)

The experimental molar ratio of I2 to Al is 14.70

Note: It is not incorrect to divide by the larger number and express the above ratios as 1:0.213 and 0.213:1, respectively. It is just a matter of preference.

EXAMPLE 2

A student reacted 10.2 g of barium chloride with excess silver nitrate, according to the equation

BaCl2(aq)+2AgNO3(aq)2AgCl(s)+Ba(NO3)2(aq)

She isolated 14.5 g of silver chloride. What was her experimental molar ratio of AgCl to BaCl2?

Solution

Step 1: Convert all masses into moles

10.2g BaCl×1 mol BaCl2208.2g BaCl=0.048 99 mol BaCl2

14.5g AgCl×1 mol AgCl143.3g AgCl=0.1012 mol AgCl

Step 2: Calculate the molar ratios

The experimental molar ratio of AgCl to BaCl2 is 0.10120.04899=2.071

Here is a video example:


video from: Noel Pauller