To get the experimental molar ratio you divide the moles of each reactant that you actually used in the experiment by each other.
EXAMPLE 1
Consider the reaction: ##2Al + 3I_2 2AlI_3##
What is the experimental molar ratio of ##Al## to ##I_2## if 1.20 g ##Al## reacts with 2.40 g ##I_2##?
Solution
Step 1: Convert all masses into moles.
##1.20 cancel(g Al) 1 mol Al/(26.98 cancel(g Al)) = 0.044 48 mol Al##
##2.40 cancel(g I) (1 mol I_2)/(253.8 cancel(g I)) = 0.009 456 mol I_2##
Step 2: Calculate the molar ratios
To calculate the molar ratios you put the moles of one reactant over the moles of the other reactant.
This gives you a molar ratio of ##Al## to ##I_2## of ##0.04448/0.009456##
Usually you divide each number in the fraction by the smaller number of moles. This gives a ratio in which no number is less than 1.
The experimental molar ratio of ##Al## to ##I_2## is then ##0.04448/0.009456 = 4.70/1## (3 significant figures)
The experimental molar ratio of ##I_2## to ##Al## is ##1/4.70##
Note: It is not incorrect to divide by the larger number and express the above ratios as 1:0.213 and 0.213:1 respectively. It is just a matter of preference.
EXAMPLE 2
A student reacted 10.2 g of barium chloride with excess silver nitrate according to the equation
##BaCl_2(aq) + 2AgNO_3(aq) 2AgCl(s) + Ba(NO_3)_2(aq)##
She isolated 14.5 g of silver chloride. What was her experimental molar ratio of ##AgCl## to ##BaCl_2##?
Solution
Step 1: Convert all masses into moles
##10.2 cancel(g BaCl) (1 mol BaCl_2)/(208.2 cancel(g BaCl)) = 0.048 99 mol BaCl_2##
##14.5 cancel(g AgCl) 1 mol AgCl/(143.3 cancel(g AgCl)) = 0.1012 mol AgCl##
Step 2: Calculate the molar ratios
The experimental molar ratio of ##AgCl## to ##BaCl_2## is ##0.1012/0.04899 = 2.07/1##
Here is a video example:
video from: Noel Pauller