Question

Write a note on chemical stoichiometry.

Answer 1

Stoichiometry is based on the Law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equals the total mass of the products. Therefore, by knowing the amount of reactants, the amount of the product can be calculated. Example, for the combustion reaction of ethanol:

$C_2{H}_{5}OH+3O_2\to 2C{O}_2+3H_{2}O$.

Here, one molecule of ethanol completely burns with 3 molecules of oxygen to produce 2 molecule of carbon dioxide and 3 molecules of water.

Stoichiometry is thus the coefficients of all reactants and products in a balanced chemical reaction that gives a quantitative relationships between their concentrations involved in a reaction.