Question

Aqueous hydrobromic acid will react with solid sodium hydroxide to produce aqueous sodium bromide and liquid water. Suppose 61. g of hydrobromic acid is mixed with 41.1 g of sodium hydroxide. Calculate the maximum mass of water that could be produced by the chemical reaction

Answer 1

This is a Limiting Reagent (LR) problem. You know that because amounts are given for BOTH reactants.
1. Write and balance the equation.
2. Convert HBr to mols. mols = grams/molar mass = ?
3. Convert NaOH to mols. mols = grams/molar mass = ?
4. Using the coefficients in the balanced equation, convert mols HBr to mols H2O.
5. Do the same and convert mols NaOH to mols H2O.
6. I is likely that the values for mols H2O in steps 4 and 5 will not agree. The correct answer in LR problems is ALWAYS the smaller value and the reagent responsible for that value is the LR.
7. Finally, convert mols H2O to grams. grams = mols x molar mass = ?

Answer 2

14g