Question

An organic synthesis to make the pain reliever acetominophen is supposed to produce 280 kg of product but instead produces 70 kg of waste in addition to the acetaminophen. what is the percent yield?

Answer 1

To calculate the percent yield, we need to divide the actual yield (the amount of product produced) by the theoretical yield (the amount of product that should be produced based on the stoichiometry of the reaction) and multiply by 100.

Actual yield = 280 kg acetaminophen

Theoretical yield = 280 kg acetaminophen + 70 kg waste

percent yield = (actual yield / theoretical yield) x 100

percent yield = (280 / (280 + 70)) x 100 = 280/350 x 100 = 80%.

So the percent yield is 80%. This means that 80% of the theoretical yield was actually produced, and 20% of the theoretical yield was lost as waste.