Question

After centrifugation of the sample, the student was not careful and some of the solid was transferred to the Erlenmeyer flask along with the liquid (supernatant). How is this mistake expected to affect the mass of the limiting reactant in the unknown mixture used?

Answer 1

The fact that some of the solid was transferred would decrease the mass of the limiting reactant.

What is the limiting reactant?

We know that in a chemical reaction, there are at least two substances that are combined in order to give the product of the reaction. We also know that the product that we obtain must be in accordance to the stoichiometry of the reaction.

It is common to see that one of the reactants would be present in a very large amount while the other reactant would be present only in quite a small amount. The reactant that is present in a small amount is said to be the limiting reactant while the one that is present in the large amount is said to be the reactant that is in excess.

Having said this, we know that the mass of the limiting reactant can be obtained from the mass of the solid that is obtained after the reaction.

If we do not take out all of the solid from the centrifuge, the mass would not be accurately weighed and the mass of the limiting reactant would not be accurately determined.

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