🔥Fun Fact: Imagine making a sandwich! If you run out of bread, you can't make any more sandwiches, no matter how much ham or cheese you have. Similarly, in reactions, if you run out of one reactant, you can't make any more product. That's the concept of the limiting reactant!

• Limiting Reactant: This is the ingredient (or reactant) that's used up first. Think of it as the first topping you run out of when making a pizza! It dictates how much product you get.
• Excess Reactant: The ingredient you have left after your reaction is done cooking.
• Theoretical Yield: The maximum amount of product you can get if everything goes perfectly. Like, the best possible pizza you can imagine!
• Mole Ratio: Tells us how reactants combine in terms of moles. Like, 2 slices of bread to 1 slice of ham for a sandwich.

Imagine

• You invite 1.0 mol of hydrogen (H₂) and 3.0 mol of oxygen (O₂) to a party.
• They decide to dance together and form water, with a dancing pair being 2 H₂s with 1 O₂ (2:1 mole ratio).

Results

• All the H₂s find a dance partner, but some O₂s are left without one.
• We're left with 1.0 mol of water and 2.5 mol of lonely O₂s.

Here’s a breakdown

• Initial: You start with 1.0 mol H₂ and 3.0 mol O2.
• Change: H₂ is completely used up (-1.0 mol) and O₂ reduces by 0.5 mol, with water increasing by 1.0 mol.
• Final: You end with 1.0 mol water and 2.5 mol O₂.

📌Takeaway: H₂ (hydrogen) is the party pooper that leaves early (limiting reactant), and O₂ (oxygen) hangs around for after the party (excess reactant).