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How to calculate the percentage yield

User Borovsky
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The yield percentage corresponds to the actual quantity of products obtained over the theoretical amount of product that should be produced. It can be expressed with the following formula.


\text{Yield percentage}=\frac{\text{Actual yield}}{Theoretical\text{ yield}}*100\%

Now, the actual yield obtained is found experimentally, generally, it is a datum given to you.

The theoretical yield to be obtained will depend on the stoichiometry of the reaction. If we have for example the following reaction:


aA+bB\rightarrow cC+dD

If they give us the moles of reactant A and ask us to find the moles of C that will be formed, we must see the ratio C to A, which in this case will be c/a and the moles of C formed will be:


\text{Moles C}=givenMolA*(cMolC)/(aMolA)=\text{Theoretical yield}

By having the two values, the actual yield and the theoretical yield, we can find the percentage yield with the first equation.