Chemistry, The Central Science, 11th edition

Theodore L. Brown, H. Eugene LeMay, Jr.,

and Bruce E. Bursten

Chapter 3
Stoichiometry:
Calculations with Chemical
Formulas and Equations
John D. Bookstaver
St. Charles Community College Stoichiometry

Cottleville, MO © 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Law of Conservation of Mass
“We may lay it down as an
incontestable axiom that, in all
the operations of art and nature,
nothing is created; an equal
amount of matter exists both
before and after the experiment.
Upon this principle, the whole art
of performing chemical
experiments depends.”
--Antoine Lavoisier, 1789
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Chemical Equations
Chemical equations are concise
representations of chemical reactions.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Anatomy of a Chemical Equation

CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g) CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Anatomy of a Chemical Equation

CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g) CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)

Reactants appear on the left

side of the equation. Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Anatomy of a Chemical Equation

CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g) CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)

Products appear on the

right side of the equation. Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Anatomy of a Chemical Equation

CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g) CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)

The states of the reactants and products

are written in parentheses to the right of Stoichiometry
each compound.
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Anatomy of a Chemical Equation

CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g) CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)

Coefficients are inserted

to balance the equation. Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Subscripts and Coefficients Give
Different Information

• Subscripts tell the number of atoms of

each element in a molecule.
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Subscripts and Coefficients Give
Different Information

• Subscripts tell the number of atoms of

each element in a molecule
• Coefficients tell the number of Stoichiometry
molecules.
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Reaction
Types
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Combination Reactions
• In this type of
reaction two
or more
substances
react to form
one product.

• Examples:
– 2 Mg (s) + O2 (g)  2 MgO (s)
– N2 (g) + 3 H2 (g)  2 NH3 (g)
Stoichiometry
– C3H6 (g) + Br2 (l)  C3H6Br2 (l)
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
 Decomposition Reactions

• In a decomposition
one substance breaks
down into two or more
substances.

• Examples:
– CaCO3 (s)  CaO (s) + CO2 (g)
– 2 KClO3 (s)  2 KCl (s) + O2 (g)
Stoichiometry
– 2 NaN3 (s)  2 Na (s) + 3 N2 (g)
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
 Combustion Reactions
• These are generally
rapid reactions that
produce a flame.
• Most often involve
hydrocarbons
reacting with oxygen
in the air.

• Examples:
– CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g)  CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)
– C3H8 (g) + 5 O2 (g)  3 CO2 (g) + 4 H2O (g) Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Formula
Weights
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Formula Weight (FW)
• A formula weight is the 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
• Formula weights are generally reported
for ionic compounds. Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Molecular Weight (MW)
• A molecular weight is the 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

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 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)

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Percent Composition
So the percentage of carbon in ethane
is…

(2)(12.0 amu)
%C =
(30.0 amu)
24.0 amu
= x 100
30.0 amu
= 80.0%
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Moles

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Avogadro’s Number

• 6.02 x 1023
• 1 mole of 12C has a
mass of 12 g.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Molar Mass
• By definition, a molar mass 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 amu’s) will be the
same number as the molar mass (in
g/mol).

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Using Moles

Moles provide a bridge from the molecular

scale to the real-world scale.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Mole Relationships

• One mole of atoms, ions, or molecules contains

Avogadro’s number of those particles.
• One mole of molecules or formula units contains
Avogadro’s number times the number of atoms or
ions of each element in the compound. Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Finding
Empirical
Formulas
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Calculating Empirical Formulas
STEP 1: Determine the mass of each element in a particular sample.
If you are given the data in percent composition, it’s easiest to
assume a total sample size of 100g. (If the percent of one element is
64%, 100 g of the compound would contain 64 g of that particular
element.)
STEP 2: For each element, change from g ⟶⟶ mol. These mole
values become first-try subscripts for the formula—for example,
C0.1H0.4O0.1
STEP 3: Now divide each element’s subscript by the lowest subscript
value.
E.g.: C0.1H0.4O0.1, divide each subscript by 0.1 and get CH 4O
STEP 4: If any subscript is NOT a whole number (or easily rounded
to one), then multiply ALL subscripts by the smallest integer that will
turn all subscripts to whole integers. This is now the empirical Stoichiometry
formula. E.g.: C1.5N0.5H4 multiply each by 2 and get C3NH8
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Calculating Empirical Formulas

One can calculate the empirical formula from

the percent composition.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

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.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Calculating Empirical Formulas

Assuming 100.00 g of para-aminobenzoic acid,

C: 61.31 g x 1 mol = 5.105 mol C

12.01 g
1 mol
H: 5.14 g x = 5.09 mol H
1.01 g
1 mol
N: 10.21 g x = 0.7288 mol N
14.01 g
1 mol
O: 23.33 g x = 1.456 mol O
16.00 g

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Calculating Empirical Formulas
Calculate the mole ratio by dividing by the smallest number
of moles:
5.105 mol
C: = 7.005 
0.7288 mol
7
5.09 mol
0.7288 mol
H: = 6.984 
7
0.7288 mol
0.7288 mol
N: = 1.000
1.458 mol
0.7288 mol Stoichiometry

O: = 2.001  © 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Calculating Empirical Formulas

These are the subscripts for the empirical formula:

C7H7NO2

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Calculating Molecular Formula from
Empirical Formula
STEP 1: Calculate the molar mass of the
empirical formula.

STEP 2: Divide the given molecular molar mass

by the molar mass calculated for the empirical
formula.

STEP 3: Multiply each subscript by the whole

number that resulted from step 2. This is now the
molecular formula. Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Calculating Molecular Formula from
Empirical Formula
Determine the empirical and molecular
formula for chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile
has the following percent composition:
28.03% Mg, 21.60% Si, 1.16% H, and
49.21% O. The molar mass for chrysotile
is 520.8 g/mol.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Combustion Analysis

• Compounds containing C, H and O are routinely

analyzed through combustion in a chamber like this.
– C is determined from the mass of CO2 produced.
– H is determined from the mass of H2O produced.
– O is determined by difference after the C and H have been
determined.
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Elemental Analyses

Compounds
containing other
elements are
analyzed using
methods analogous
to those used for C,
H and O.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Stoichiometric Calculations

The coefficients in the balanced equation give

the ratio of moles of reactants and products.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Stoichiometric Calculations
Starting with the
mass of Substance
A you can use the
ratio of the
coefficients of A and
B to calculate the
mass of Substance
B formed (if it’s a
product) or used (if
it’s a reactant).
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Stoichiometric Calculations
C6H12O6 + 6 O2  6 CO2 + 6 H2O

Starting with 1.00 g of C6H12O6…

we calculate the moles of C6H12O6…
use the coefficients to find the moles of H 2O…
and then turn the moles of water to grams. Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Limiting
Reactants
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

How Many Cookies Can I Make?

• You can make cookies

until you run out of one
of the ingredients.
• Once this family runs
out of sugar, they will
stop making cookies
(at least any cookies
you would want to eat).

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

How Many Cookies Can I Make?

• In this example the

sugar would be the
limiting reactant,
because it will limit the
amount of cookies you
can make.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Limiting Reactants
• The limiting reactant is the reactant present in
the smallest stoichiometric amount.
– In other words, it’s the reactant you’ll run out of first (in
this case, the H2).

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Limiting Reactants

In the example below, the O2 would be the

excess reagent.

Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Theoretical Yield
• The theoretical yield is the maximum
amount of product that can be made.
– In other words it’s the amount of product
possible as calculated through the
stoichiometry problem.
• This is different from the actual yield,
which is the amount one actually
produces and measures.
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 Percent Yield
One finds the percent yield by
comparing the amount actually obtained
(actual yield) to the amount it was
possible to make (theoretical yield).

Actual Yield
Percent Yield = x 100
Theoretical Yield
Stoichiometry

© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.