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Percentage Yield & Purity (CIE IGCSE Chemistry)
Revision Note
Calculating percentage yield, percentage by mass & percentage purity
Extended tier only
Percentage yield
- Yield is the term used to describe the amount of product you get from a reaction
- For economic reasons, the objective of every chemical producing company is to have as high a percentage yield as possible to increase profits and reduce costs and waste
- In practice, you never get 100% yield in a chemical process for several reasons
- These include:
- Some reactants may be left behind in the equipment
- The reaction may be reversible and in these reactions a high yield is never possible as the products are continually turning back into the reactants
- Some products may also be lost during separation and purification stages such as filtration or distillation
- There may be side reactions occurring where a substance reacts with a gas in the air or an impurity in one of the reactants
- Products can also be lost during transfer from one container to another
How to calculate percentage yield
- Percentage yield compares the actual yield to the theoretical yield
- The equation for percentage yield is:
percentage yield =
- Actual yield is the recorded amount of product obtained
- Theoretical yield is the amount of product that would be obtained under perfect practical and chemical conditions
- Typically, this involves a reacting mass calculation based on the balanced symbol equation
Worked example
Copper(II) sulfate may be prepared by the reaction of dilute sulfuric acid with copper(II) oxide. A student prepared 1.6 g of dry copper(II) sulfate crystals.
Calculate the percentage yield if the theoretical yield is 2.0 g.
Answer
- Actual yield of copper(II) sulfate = 1.6 g
- Percentage yield of copper(II) sulfate = x 100 = 80%
Exam Tip
- You are expected to remember the equation for percentage yield
- If you remember it incorrectly and get a percentage yield greater than 100%, then you have made an error!
- The most common error is to divide the theoretical yield by the actual yield
- In this case, you just need to swap the numbers around in your calculation
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How to calculate percentage composition by mass
- The percentage composition of any compound is a way to express the mass of each element as a percentage of the total mass of the compound
- The equation for percentage composition is:
percentage composition of an element =
- For example, in water:
- Water is a simple molecule with the chemical formula H2O
- So, water is made of two hydrogen (H) atoms and one oxygen (O) atom
- From the Periodic Table, the relative atomic mass of:
- Hydrogen = 1
- Oxygen = 16
- Therefore, the total mass of water is:
- (2 × 1) + 16 = 18
- To find the percentage composition of hydrogen:
- Percentage of hydrogen = × 100 = 11.1%
- Similarly, the percentage composition of oxygen is:
- Percentage of oxygen = × 100 = 88.9%
- Note: The total percentage by mass of all the elements should add up to 100%, e.g. 11.1% + 88.9% = 100%
Worked example
Calculate the percentage by mass of iron in iron(III) oxide, Fe2O3.
Answer:
- From the Periodic Table, the relative atomic masses are:
- Fe = 56
- Oxygen = 16
- The total mass of iron in iron(III) oxide is:
- 2 x 56 = 112
- The total mass of iron(III) oxide is:
- (2 × 56) + (3 × 16) = 160
- The equation for percentage composition is:
- Percentage composition = × 100
- So, the percentage composition of iron in iron(III) oxide is:
- Percentage of iron = × 100 = 70%
Worked example
The chemical formula of the fertiliser ammonium nitrate is NH4NO3. Calculate the percentage by mass of nitrogen in ammonium nitrate.
Answer:
- From the Periodic Table, the relative atomic masses are:
- Nitrogen = 14
- Hydrogen = 1
- Oxygen = 16
- Careful: There are two nitrogen atoms in ammonium nitrate
- The total mass of nitrogen in ammonium nitrate is:
- 2 x 14 = 28
- The total mass of ammonium nitrate is:
- (1 x 14) + (4 × 1) + (1 x 14) + (3 × 16) = 80
- The equation for percentage composition is:
- Percentage Composition = × 100
- So, the percentage composition of nitrogen in ammonium nitrate is:
- Percentage of nitrogen = × 100 = 35%
Exam Tip
- Make sure you calculate the percentage composition using the total mass of the element.
- For example, a common mistake with ammonium nitrate is doing the calculation for only one atom of nitrogen.
- This would lose a mark in an exam
- Show ALL your working out. If you make a mistake in the calculation, you could still score a mark for your workings.
How to calculate percentage purity
- A pure substance has nothing else mixed with it
- Often, the product you are trying to obtain may become contaminated with unwanted substances such as unreacted reactants, catalysts and other impurities
- To equation to calculate percentage purity is:
percentage purity =
Worked example
A sample of lead(II) bromide was made. It weighed 15 g.
The sample was found to be impure and only contained 13.5 g of lead(II) bromide.
Calculate the percentage purity of the lead(II) bromide.
Answer:
- The mass of the pure substance is 13.5 g
- The total mass of the substance is 15 g
- Percentage purity =
- Percentage purity = = 90%
Exam Tip
- All of these calculations are to find a percentage so don't forget to multiply by 100 to convert your answer to a percentage.
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