Hydrogen cyanide, HCN, can be made by a two-step process. First, ammonia is reacted with O2 to give nitric oxide, NO.

Question

4 NH3(g) + 5 O2(g) → 4 NO(g) + 6 H2O(g)
Then nitric oxide is reacted with methane, CH4.
2 NO(g) + 2 CH4(g) → 2 HCN(g) + 2 H2O(g) + H2(g)
When 25.6 g of ammonia and 25.1 g of methane are used, how many grams of hydrogen cyanide can be produced?

Answer 1

Hydrogen cyanide, HCN, can be made by a two-step process. First, ammonia is reacted with O2 to give nitric oxide, NO.
4 NH3(g) + 5 O2(g) → 4 NO(g) + 6 H2O(g)
I would use this equation with simple stoichiometry to convert 25.6 g NH3 to grams NO. Here is a site that gives an example of a simple stoichiometry problem which I have posted.http://www.jiskha.com/science/chemistry/stoichiometry.html


Then nitric oxide is reacted with methane, CH4.
2 NO(g) + 2 CH4(g) → 2 HCN(g) + 2 H2O(g) + H2(g)

Then use grams NO and 25.1 g CH4 in a limiting reagent problem to determine the amount of HCN formed.

When 25.6 g of ammonia and 25.1 g of methane are used, how many grams of hydrogen cyanide can be produced?

Answer 2

I got the grams of NO, but how do you do the limiting reagent problem?