Iron metal reacts with chlorine gas according to the following equation: 2Fe(s)+ 3Cl₂(g)→ 2FeCl₃(s)If 35.0 g each of iron and chlorine are combined, how much FeCl₃ should form?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The first step is to determine the limiting reactant. To do this, we need to calculate the moles of each reactant.

Moles of Fe = 35.0 g / 55.85 g/mol = 0.626 mol
Moles of Cl2 = 35.0 g / 70.90 g/mol = 0.494 mol

The balanced equation tells us that 2 moles of Fe react with 3 moles of Cl2 to produce 2 moles of FeCl3. Therefore, if Fe is the limiting reactant, we should get:

0.626 mol Fe x (2 mol FeCl3 / 2 mol Fe) x (162.2 g FeCl3/mol) = 50.9 g FeCl3

If Cl2 is the limiting reactant, we should get:

0.494 mol Cl2 x (2 mol FeCl3 / 3 mol Cl2) x (162.2 g FeCl3/mol) = 53.4 g FeCl3

Since Cl2 produces the smaller amount of FeCl3, it is the limiting reactant. Therefore, the answer is (C) 53.4 g of FeCl3.

Iron Metal Reacts with Chlorine Gas According to the Following