Sodium hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide as follows: 2 NaOH1s2 + CO21g2¡Na2CO31s2 + H2O1l2 How many moles of the excess reactant remain after the completion of the reaction?

Key Concepts

Stoichiometry

Stoichiometry is the calculation of reactants and products in chemical reactions based on the balanced chemical equation. It allows us to determine the proportions of substances involved in a reaction, which is essential for predicting how much of each reactant is consumed and how much product is formed.

Limiting Reactant

The limiting reactant is the substance that is completely consumed first in a chemical reaction, thus determining the maximum amount of product that can be formed. Identifying the limiting reactant is crucial for calculating the amounts of excess reactants remaining after the reaction has occurred.

Mole Concept

The mole concept is a fundamental principle in chemistry that relates the mass of a substance to the number of particles it contains. One mole of any substance contains Avogadro's number (approximately 6.022 x 10²³) of entities, allowing chemists to convert between grams and moles, which is essential for stoichiometric calculations.