Question

What are limiting reactants?

Answer 1

Limiting reactants or limiting reagents decide the amount of product formed and the amount of excess reagent used.

Explanation:

A limiting reactant is that reactant that is completely used up in a reaction. It is found out by dividing the stoichiometric coefficients of the given reactants with the number of moles used.For example,
In the reaction below, if we take `2 mol` of `N_2 and H_2`,

`N_(2(g)) + 3H_(2(g)) rightleftharpoons 2NH_(3(g))`

For `N_2`,

ratio is `2/1`

For `H_2`

ratio is `2/3`

The ratio for `H_2` < `N_2`.So, for this reaction, `H_2` is the limiting reactant and `N_2` is the excess reactant i.e present in excess quantity