Limiting REagents
Limiting and excess reagents are which reagents will allow you to find the maximum of a substance you can create based off what you have.
For example, if you are making a recipe that calls for 2 eggs and 2 cups of flour, and want to know how many batches you can make if you have 6 eggs and 10 cups of flour.
Well, 1 batch only needs 2 eggs, so 6 divided by 2 is 3...you can make three batches
but 1 batch also uses 2 cups of flour, so with 10 cups (10/2) you can make 5 batches, logically
The only problem is, you don't have enough eggs to make 5 batches. You only have enough for 3. Therefore the eggs are the limiting reagents.
Now this is easy to make sense of because the numbers are small and can be applied to every day situations where the average adult doesn't even realize this is the math their using. Again, it seems like logic....but try it with grams of elements and moles of substances!!
**The smallest of the two amounts you get will always be the limiting (the 3 batches was smaller and indicates that the eggs are the limiting)
The other substance is called the excess. (you still have more flour than you will actually be using, it is in excess)
For example, if you are making a recipe that calls for 2 eggs and 2 cups of flour, and want to know how many batches you can make if you have 6 eggs and 10 cups of flour.
Well, 1 batch only needs 2 eggs, so 6 divided by 2 is 3...you can make three batches
but 1 batch also uses 2 cups of flour, so with 10 cups (10/2) you can make 5 batches, logically
The only problem is, you don't have enough eggs to make 5 batches. You only have enough for 3. Therefore the eggs are the limiting reagents.
Now this is easy to make sense of because the numbers are small and can be applied to every day situations where the average adult doesn't even realize this is the math their using. Again, it seems like logic....but try it with grams of elements and moles of substances!!
**The smallest of the two amounts you get will always be the limiting (the 3 batches was smaller and indicates that the eggs are the limiting)
The other substance is called the excess. (you still have more flour than you will actually be using, it is in excess)