In: Chemistry
What is stoichiometry? Why is this concept important to understanding how chemical reactions proceed?
Stoichiometry is the field of chemistry that is concerned with the relative quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions. For any balanced chemical reaction, whole numbers (coefficients) are used to show the quantities (generally in moles) of both the reactants and products. For example, when oxygen and hydrogen react to produce water, one mole of oxygen reacts with two moles of hydrogen to produce two moles of water.
In addition, stoichiometry can be used to find quantities such as the amount of products that can be produced with a given amount of reactants and percent yield. Upcoming concepts will explain how to calculate the amount of products that can be produced given certain information.
The relationship between the products and reactants in a balanced chemical equation is very important in understanding the nature of the reaction. This relationship tells us what materials and how much of them are needed for a reaction to proceed. Reaction stoichiometry describes the quantitative relationship among substances as they participate in various chemical reactions.