3) Now put as many nuts as you can completely fit on each bolt in your set. The nuts must completely fit on

the bolt, none of the nut should be hanging off the bolt.

• Which did you not have enough of to combine, nuts or bolts?

4)

•

In chemical reactions atoms combine in specific numbers. In the nuts and bolts example above the

bolts would only hold two nuts for each bolt. Atoms behave this way also; they have a specific

combining capacity (valence) when they make a compound with other atoms.

• In chemical changes, the reactant that is left over and doesn't have anything to combine with is called

the excess reactant, and the reactant that is completely combined is called the limiting reactant.

A) What was the excess reactant (nuts or bolts) in your set?

B) What was the limiting reactant (nuts or bolts) in your set?

C) Define the terms limiting reactant and excess reactant in your own words.