Chemical Equations

A chemical equation is
a symbolic
representation of a
chemical reaction.

Equation Example:
The burning of methane gas in
oxygen is:
CH4 + 2 O2 CO2 + 2 H2O

Review:
Chemical Formulas

Shows the elements & number of atoms of

each element in a molecule.
Subscripts represent the number of atoms of
the element that it is directly after.
H2SO4

Coefficients

A formula may begin with a number.

If there is not a number, then 1 is
understood to be in front of the formula.

This number is called the coefficient.

The coefficient represents the number of
molecules of that compound or atom needed in
the reaction.
For example:

2H2SO4

Reading Chemical Equations

Each side of an equation represents a

combination of chemicals.

The combination is written as a set of

chemical formulas, separated by + symbols.
CH4 + 2 O2 CO2 + 2 H2O
Coefficient

Reading Chemical Equations

The two sides of the equation are separated

by an arrow.

The combination of compounds and molecules

before the reaction are on the left side of the
arrow, and they are called the reactants.
The right side indicates the combination of
compounds and molecules after the reaction, and
they are called the products.

Reactants react and produce products!

For Example:
Na + O2 Na2O

In this reaction, sodium (Na) and oxygen (O2)

react to make a single molecule, Na2O

Balancing Equations

The Law of Conservation of Mass states that

in a chemical reaction, the quantity or amount
of each element does not change.

This means that each side of the equation

must represent the same quantity of each
element; in other words have the same
number of each kind of atom.

Balancing Equations
Na + O2 Na2O
In order for this equation to be balanced, there must
be equal amount of Na on the left hand side and on
the right hand side.

Types of Chemical Reactions

1. Combination reaction

A + B AB

2. Decomposition reaction

AB A + B

3. Single-displacement reaction

4. Double-displacement reaction

A + BC AC + B

AB + CD AD + CB

Combination Reactions

Examples:
N2 (g) + 3 H2 (g)

2 NH3 (g)

C3H6 (g) + Br2 (l)

C3H6Br2 (l)

2 Mg (s) + O2 (g)

2 MgO (s)

Two or
more
substances
react to
form one
product

Decomposition Reactions

One substance breaks down into two

or more substances

Examples:
CaCO3 (s)

CaO (s) + CO2 (g)

2 KClO3 (s)

2 KCl (s) + O2 (g)

2 NaN3 (s)

2 Na (s) + 3 N2 (g)

Definition of Stoichiometry
Stoichiometry means representing the exact
mass or moles of the reactants which are
required to react with each other without any
wastage and also finding out the exact mass or
moles of the product which will be formed.

Formula Weight (FW)

Sum of the atomic weights for the atoms in

a chemical formula
So, the formula weight of calcium chloride,
CaCl2, would be
Ca: 1(40.1 amu)
+ Cl: 2(35.5 amu)
111.1 amu

These are generally reported for ionic

compounds

Molecular Weight (MW)

Sum of the atomic weights of the atoms in a

molecule
For the molecule ethane, C2H6, the molecular
weight would be
C: 2(12.0 amu)
+ H: 6(1.0 amu)
30.0 amu

Ex Formula Weight

Sodium Chloride NaCl

Ethanol C2H5OH
Aluminium sulfate Al2(SO4)3

Atomic weight Na = 23.3, Cl= 35.5, C= 24.0, H= 1.0, O=16.0, Al=27.0,

S= 32.0

Percent Composition
One can find the percentage of the mass of
a compound that comes from each of the
elements in the compound by using this
equation:
(number of atoms)(atomic weight)
% element =

x 100
(FW of the compound)

Percent Composition
So the percentage of carbon and hydrogen
in ethane (C2H6, molecular mass = 30.0)
is:
(2)(12.0 amu)
%C =

(30.0 amu)

(6)(1.01 amu)
%H =

(30.0 amu)

24.0 amu

x 100

= 80.0%

x 100

= 20.0%

30.0 amu
6.06 amu
30.0 amu

Calculating Empirical
Formulas
The compound para-aminobenzoic acid (you may have seen it listed as
PABA on your bottle of sunscreen) is composed of carbon (61.31%),
hydrogen (5.14%), nitrogen (10.21%), and oxygen (23.33%). Find the
empirical formula of PABA.
Assuming 100.00 g of para-aminobenzoic acid,
C:

61.31 g x

H:

5.14 g x

N:

10.21 g x

O: 23.33 g x

molC
= 5.105 1mol
12.01 g
1 mol
= 5.09 mol
H
1.01 g
= 0.72881 mol N
14.01 g
= 1.456 1mol
molO
16.00 g

Calculating Empirical
Formulas
Calculate the mole ratio by dividing by the smallest number of moles:
C:

5.105 mol
= 7.005 7
0.7288 mol

H:

5.09= mol
6.984 7
0.7288 mol

N:

= 1.000
0.7288
mol
0.7288 mol

O:

= 2.001 2
1.458 mol
0.7288 mol

These are the

subscripts for the
empirical formula:
C7H7NO2

The mole

The mole is just a number of things

1 dozen = 12 things
1 pair = 2 things
1 mole = 6.022141x1023 things (Avogradro
numbers)

Molar Mass
The trick:

By definition, this is the mass of 1 mol of a

substance (i.e., g/mol)

The molar mass of an element is the mass

number for the element that we find on the
periodic table
The formula weight (in amus) will be the same
number as the molar mass (in g/mol)

Using Moles

Moles provide a bridge from the molecular scale

to the real-world scale
The number of moles correspond to the number
of molecules. 1 mole of any substance has the
same number of molecules.

Mole Relationships

One mole of atoms, ions, or molecules

contains Avogadros number of those
particles
One mole of molecules or formula units
contains Avogadros number times the
number of atoms or ions of each element in
the compound

Stoichiometry
Stoichiometry: calculations based on a balanced
chemical equation

Mas

Grams of A

Mole Ratio

Moles of B

s
r Mas
Mola

Moles of A

Mola
r

Grams of B

Mole ratio: ratio of coefficients of any two

substances in a balanced chemical equation
26

Stoichiometry is represented
by:

A balanced equation
In which the coefficients represent the exact
number of moles reacting and getting formed.

Types of Stoichiometry

Mole-Mole Calculations

How many moles of water can be obtained from

the reaction of 4 moles of O2?

2 H2 (g) + 1 O2 (g) 2 H2O (g)

4 mol O2 2 mol H2O
x

1 mol O2

= 8 mol H2O

Mole Ratio
29

Mole-Mass Calculations

2 Al (s) + 6 HCl (aq) 2 AlCl3 (aq) + 3 H2 (g)

What mass of hydrogen gas can be produced

by reacting 6 moles of aluminum with HCl?

6 mol Al
1

30

3 mol H2
2 mol Al

2.0 g H2
1 mol H2

Mole Ratio

= 18 g H2

Molar
Mass

Mass-Mass Calculations
Sn(s) + 2 HF (g) SnF2 (s) + H2 (g)
How many grams of SnF2 can be produced
from the reaction of 30.00 g of HF with Sn?

30.00 g HF 1 mole HF
x

20.01 g HF

= 117.5 g SnF2

31

Molar
Mass

1 molSnF2

156.71
g
SnF
2
x

2 mol HF

1 mol SnF2

Molar Mass
Mole Ratio

Limiting Reactants

How Many Cookies Can I Make?

You can make cookies until you run out of one of the ingredients
Once you run out of sugar, you will stop making cookies
In this example the sugar would be the limiting reactant,
because it will limit the amount of cookies you can make

Limiting Reactants
In the example below, the O2 would be the
excess reagent

Problem solving
Aim: Be able to calculate:
A. Which reactant (if any) is limiting?
B. What mass or volume of product can be formed?

750g of ammonia and 750 g of

oxygen are combined.
4NH3(g) + 5O2(g) 4NO(g) + 6H2O(l)

A. Which reactant is
limiting?
1 Calculate moles of each reactant:
moles = mass/mr
Moles NH3 = 750 / 17.03 = 44 moles

Moles O2 = 750 / 32 = 23.4

2 Check the required ratio compared to the actual ratio.

Require 5mole O2 / 4mole NH3 = 1.25moles O2 / 1mole NH3
Available 23.4mole O2 /44mole NH3 = 0.523moles O2 / 1 mole NH3
Oxygen is the limiting reagent!

750g of ammonia and oxygen are

combined.
4NH3(g) + 5O2(g) 4NO(g) + 6H2O(l)
B. What mass of NO can we
form?
1. Work out moles of limiting reactant
Previous slide moles O2 = 23.4
2 Use the product / reactant mole ratio to work out moles of product
23.4 x (4/5) = 18.72 moles of NO
3 Convert moles to mass
Mass = moles x mr = 18.72 x 30.1 = 562g of NO

Theoretical Yield

The theoretical yield is the amount of product

that can be made

In other words its the amount of product possible

from stoichiometry. The perfect reaction.

This is different from the actual yield, the

amount one actually produces and measures

Percent Yield
A comparison of the amount actually
obtained to the amount it was possible to
make
Percent Yield

Actual Yield
=
x 100
Theoretical Yield

Theoretical yield= 117.5 g SnF2

Actual yield = 113. 4g SnF2
Percent yield = 113.4 g SnF2
117.5 g SnF2

*100