Limiting Reactant

[Naana Boateng 1I]

Is it correct to assume that the limiting reactant is always the value that has the smallest amount of moles out of the two that are being compared?

[Natalie LeRaybaud 1G]

Yes you can assume this only if you have solved for the amount after your conversions. Like after you convert from percent-->grams-->moles--> and then divide by the smallest mole. The lowest value at that point is safe to say is the limiting reactant, otherwise you can't assume (like if your just talking about the initial moles given in the problem or something). Hope this helps!

[Golbarg Rahimi 3k]

Another strategy that seems to work when comparing moles is figuring out the number of moles for each compound and dividing it by its stoichiometric coefficient. At this point, we could compare the 2 numbers. The smaller number is the limiting reactant.
Moles
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Coefficient

[Isabella Zizolfi 2F]

Firstly I usually find the moles for each of the reactant and then through a ratio (moles of first reactant : x = stoichiometric number first reactant : stoichiometric number second reactant) I calculate the amount of moles of the second reactant I should need and then I compare the moles that I have with the ones I should.