The Chemistry of S'mores: Limiting Reactant Problem

Understanding Limiting Reactants in S'mores

S'mores are a classic campfire treat made of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. To make a complete s'more, you need one graham cracker square, one marshmallow, and one square of chocolate. The limiting reactant in a chemical reaction is the substance that is completely consumed first, limiting the amount of product that can be formed.

In this scenario, we have 36 graham cracker squares, 20 marshmallows, and 51 squares of chocolate. To determine the limiting reactant, we need to calculate how many complete s'mores can be made using each ingredient.

Graham Crackers: With 36 graham cracker squares, you can make 36 complete s'mores because the other ingredients are not limiting factors. Therefore, the graham cracker squares are not the limiting reactant.

Marshmallows: With 20 marshmallows, you can only make 20 complete s'mores because you will run out of marshmallows before using up all the graham crackers and chocolate. This makes marshmallows the limiting reactant in this case.

Chocolate: With 51 squares of chocolate, you can make 51 complete s'mores, which is more than the number of marshmallows available. Therefore, chocolate is not the limiting reactant.

Since the number of complete s'mores that can be made is limited by the number of marshmallows, the marshmallows are the limiting reactant in this s'mores-making scenario.