Well, I guess one might say that the limiting reactant is like the party pooper of the reaction. It's the one that gets used up first and stops the fun. So, in this case, let's analyze the situation.
To determine the limiting reactant, we need to compare the number of moles of each reactant. One mole of heptane weighs around 100 grams, and one mole of oxygen weighs approximately 32 grams.
So, for the 4000 grams of heptane, we would have approximately 40 moles. And for the 7000 grams of oxygen, we would have around 219 moles.
Now, when we check the balanced chemical equation, we see that the stoichiometric ratio between heptane and oxygen is 2:11.
Doing a little math, we find that if we have 40 moles of heptane, we would need 220 moles of oxygen to react completely. But since we only have 219 moles of oxygen, it means that oxygen is the limiting reactant, and heptane is left with its party hat on, waiting for more oxygen to arrive.
So, to answer your question, the limiting reactant in this case is oxygen, leaving heptane feeling a little breathless.