Which is the limiting reactant when 3.5 g of al and 5.6 g of cl2 react?

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Answer 1 · 2014-09-16T20:48:18

The limiting reactant is Cl₂.

You use the usual method for finding limiting reactants.

In your problem, the balanced equation is

2Al + 3Cl₂ → 2AlCl₃

From Al: 3.5 g Al × #"1 mol Al"/"26.98 g Al" × ("2 mol AlCl"_3)/"2 mol Al"# = 0.130 mol AlCl₃

From Cl₂: 5.6 g Cl₂ × #("1 mol Cl"_2)/("70.91 g Cl"_2) × ("2 mol AlCl"_3)/("3 mol Cl"_2)## = 0.0526 mol AlCl₃

So the limiting reactant is Cl₂.