Ratio

[Lesley Perez 1F]

When trying to figure out the limiting reactant, how do you figure out the correct ratio? I'm not really sure how to explain it but I always get confused when trying to figure out the ratio to determine the limiting reactant. Is the ratio simply what is given to you in the problem?

[Alexis Harouni]

You must look at the coefficients of the reactants in the equation, that's the ratio you compare.

Hope this answers your question.

[Gabrielle Trevino 2J]

I was confused with that as well at first. To further clarify, once you have balanced a chemical equation, the stoichiometric coefficients that are used will serve as the numbers for your ratio. For example, if we have a chemical equation that's balanced such as (M5 of textbook problems- asks how many moles will be produced): 6ClO2 + 2BrF3 --> 6ClOF + Br2 the coefficients for the ratio of will be 6 and 2 for the reactants and 6 and 1 for the products. To determine the number of moles of ClO2F that can be produced from this reaction using the limiting reactant, ClO2, we would multiply the following: (# moles ClO2) (6 mol ClO2F/6 mol ClO2). Hope this helps!