If 638.44 CuSO4 reacts with 240.0 NaOH which is the limiting reagent?

Answer 1

To determine the limiting reagent between CuSO₄ and NaOH, we first need to look at the balanced chemical equation for the reaction, which is:

[ CuSO₄ + 2 NaOH \rightarrow Cu(OH)₂ + Na₂SO₄ ]

According to the stoichiometry, 1 mole of CuSO₄ reacts with 2 moles of NaOH. First, calculate the moles of CuSO₄ and NaOH. Assuming the molar mass of CuSO₄ is approximately 159.61 g/mol, 638.44 g of CuSO₄ corresponds to about 4.00 moles. For 240.0 g of NaOH (molar mass ≈ 40.00 g/mol), this is about 6.00 moles. Since 4.00 moles of CuSO₄ would require 8.00 moles of NaOH but only 6.00 moles are available, NaOH is the limiting reagent.