Stechiometri

Stechiometri is a branch of chemistry that deals with the quantitative relationships between reactants and products in chemical reactions. It is based on the law of conservation of mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction, and the law of definite proportions, which states that a chemical compound always contains its component elements in fixed ratio by mass.

The fundamental principles of stechiometri are applied using balanced chemical equations. A balanced chemical equation represents a chemical reaction where the number of atoms of each element is the same on both the reactant and product sides. These coefficients in the balanced equation represent the mole ratios of the substances involved.

One of the most common applications of stechiometri is to determine the amount of a product that can be formed from a given amount of a reactant, or to determine the amount of reactant needed to produce a specific amount of product. This is achieved through calculations involving molar masses and mole ratios. For example, if we know the molar mass of a reactant and the balanced equation for its reaction, we can calculate how many grams of product will be formed from a certain mass of that reactant.

Stechiometri is also used to identify the limiting reactant in a reaction. The limiting reactant is the reactant that is completely consumed first in a chemical reaction and therefore determines the maximum amount of product that can be formed. The other reactants are present in excess. Understanding the limiting reactant is crucial for optimizing chemical processes and ensuring efficient use of materials. Furthermore, stechiometri plays a role in determining reaction yields, comparing theoretical yields (the maximum possible amount of product) with actual yields (the amount of product actually obtained).