2.a. 3.26 g of iron powder are added to 80.0 cm3 of 0.200 mol dm-3 copper(II) sulfate solution. The following reaction occurs: Fe (s) + CuSO4 (aq) → FeSO4 (aq)
+ Cu (s)Determine the limiting reactant showing your working. *
Your answer

The limiting reactant is CuSO₄.

Explanation:

The reaction is:

Fe(s) + CuSO₄(aq) → FeSO₄(aq) + Cu(s)      (1)

To find the limiting reactant we need to find the number of moles of the reactants.

Where:

m: is the mass of iron = 3.26 g  

: is the standard atomic weight of iron = 55.845 g/mol

Where:

M: is the concentration of the CuSO₄ = 0.200 mol/dm⁻³

V: is the volume of the solution = 80.0 cm³

First, we need to convert the units of the volume to dm³ knowing that 1 dm = 10 cm and 1 L= 1 dm³.

Now, the number of CuSO₄ moles is:

So, to determine the limiting reactant we need to use the molar ratio from equation (1), Fe:CuSO₄ = 1:1

Since we need 0.016 moles of Fe to react with 0.016 moles of CuSO₄ and initially we have 0.058 moles of Fe, then the limiting reactant is CuSO₄.  

Therefore, the limiting reactant is CuSO₄.  

I hope it helps you!

it means there are 3 atoms of oxygen