Limiting Reactant Audio-Visual Topic Question

[Kymiah_Charles_2I]

Hi!
Just to clarify: the mass of the product cannot be greater than the total mass of the reactants right?
I would assume no since the limiting reactant affect the amount of the product formed. This is always the case right?

[Alexandra_Ivanova_1A]

You're right, the mass of the products can't be more than the mass of the reactants due to The Law of Conservation of Mass (matter cannot be created or destroyed). Based on this, the mass of the products actually equals the mass of the reactants, as no change in mass occurs through a reaction. Product can be lost due to physical errors like it getting stuck on the sides of a beaker, spilled, etc, but the amount that should theoretically be produced is the same on both "sides" of an equation.

[Alex Dib 4H]

Hey Charles,
I believe that you're correct. Due to the law of conservation of mass, the mass of product will always be equal to the mass of reactants, never more or less. This is what balancing equations is based off of. If we have excess reactant in a limiting reactant problem, the left over reactants aren't considered when determining the total mass of reactants. The only mass were concerned with are the reactants that actually form a product, which is determined with the limiting reactant. Hope this helps!