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Stoichiometry

Definition

Stoichiometry involves calculations based on balanced chemical equations regarding quantities involved in chemical reactions - both reactants and products.

Analogy

Think of stoichiometry like a recipe. If you know how many cookies one recipe makes, you can figure out how much of each ingredient you'd need to make more or fewer cookies. In chemistry, if we know the balanced equation for a reaction (our "recipe"), we can calculate how much of any reactant is needed to produce a certain amount of product.

Related terms

Mole Ratio: The ratio between the amounts in moles of any two compounds involved in a chemical reaction.

Limiting Reactant: The substance that is totally consumed when the chemical reaction is complete.

Excess Reactant: The reactants present in quantities greater than necessary to react with the quantity of the limiting reagent.

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AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.