por The stoichiometry It is the part of chemistry that studies the amounts of substances involved in reactions. With the stoichiometry it is possible to know how the substances are before and how they will be after the chemical reaction.
All reactions depend on how much stuff they have. Stoichiometry helps determine the amount or proportion of compounds that will be needed in a chemical reaction.
The reactions depend on the compounds involved and how much of each compound is needed to determine the product that will result.
The elements that are taken into account in stoichiometry are: mass of reactants (chemical products before the reaction), mass of products (chemical products after the reaction), chemical equations, molecular weights of reactants and products, and formulas of various compounds. .
Examples of Stoichiometry in Daily Life
Kitchen Recipes
Most of the people love cookies. In this case, stoichiometry helps us in the following way: if you want to make 10 cookies, the chemical “equation” for the mass of reactants (chemicals before the reaction) would be:
200 grams of flour + 2 eggs + 200 grams of butter + 1 cup of sugar = 10 cookies.
But it turns out that the mass of reagent that you have, or rather, the ingredients, are incomplete because you only have one egg. A new chemical equation is made, where everything is cut in half to get a result:
100 grams of flour + 1 egg + 100 grams of butter + 1/2 cup of sugar = 5 cookies.
The 5 cookies would be the mass of products (chemical products after the reaction), that is, the result of the union of the ingredients through a chemical reaction.
car safety
Today cars are the main means of transportation for people anywhere in the world.
To make cars safer, car companies have put airbags in the steering wheel and other places inside the vehicle to protect people in a crash.
With stoichiometry it is possible to know how much nitrogen gas must be produced in a matter of seconds for the bag to inflate on impact, and can save the life of the driver or passengers.
Help us not to get lost
Currently it is normal for people to locate themselves with their GPS to get an address or find out if there is a store or bank near them. This geolocation system is made up of several satellites in space.
Stoichiometry helps calculate the fuel, weight, and materials needed for rockets to fly into space and leave satellites in orbit. In addition, it calculates the fuel and reaction of the satellite components.
So we can enjoy a global positioning system so as not to get lost.
prepare a lemonade
To make a drink as common as lemonade, and make it look good, we must use the components in their proper measure: 1 liter of water, 5 large lemons and 3 tablespoons of sugar or honey. With stoichiometry we know how much of each one must be used so that it is neither too sweet nor too acid.
Determine the amount of calcium in the water
The chemical industry uses stoichiometry to find out if the water in a place is very hard, that is, if it has a lot of calcium.
ozone concentration
Likewise, it is possible to know how much ozone concentration there is in the atmosphere.
CO₂ concentration
NGOs and environmental institutions can know the concentration of CO₂ in the environment and determine if it is highly contaminated or not, in order to indicate the necessary corrections.
Prepare a natural antacid
With sodium bicarbonate, a homemade and natural antacid is usually prepared. But experience indicates that you cannot use too much bicarbonate in little water: a teaspoon in 1/4 glass will be enough for the bicarbonate to take effect and not be counterproductive to the body.
With these simple examples, you can appreciate how daily life is filled with many more scientific elements than we think.
References
How to use mole ratios from a balanced reaction to calculate. Retrieved from khanacademy.org How can stoichiometry be used in real life? KRAPKAT, TED. Retrieved from quora.com Creating a Connection between Everyday Life and Stoichiometry. ChemEd DL (Chemical Education Digital Library). Retrieved from serc.carleton.edu Stoichiometry. Recovered from the site: Chem4kids.com