Stoichiometric calculations help predict the quantities of reactants and products involved in a chemical reaction. These calculations are based on the balanced chemical equation, which ensures the conservation of mass and atoms.
Here's a step-by-step approach to performing stoichiometric calculations:
- Write down the balanced chemical equation for the reaction.
- Identify the molar ratios of reactants and products from the coefficients in the balanced equation.
- Calculate the moles of each reactant or product as needed, using the molar mass if starting from a given mass.
- Use the molar ratios to convert between the moles of different substances.
- Finally, convert the moles back to grams or other units if required.
These calculations ensure you know how much of each reactant you need or how much product you can expect, which is crucial for determining the theoretical yield.