Final answer:
The ideal gas law is used to determine the theoretical yield of hydrogen, which is necessary for calculating the percent yield of a chemical reaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ideal gas law is an empirical equation that relates the pressure, volume, temperature, and number of moles of a gas. It allows chemists to calculate any of these four properties if the other three are known. In the context of the question, the ideal gas law can be used to determine the theoretical yield of hydrogen. The theoretical yield is the maximum amount of product that could be formed from a given amount of reactants, based on the stoichiometry of the reaction. It is an essential step in calculating the percent yield, which is the ratio of the actual yield (the amount of product actually produced in the laboratory) to the theoretical yield, expressed as a percentage.
Remember that the theoretical yield is just that—theoretical—it represents a perfect scenario where no product is lost in the process. In practice, chemists strive for high percent yields, close to 100%, but factors such as reaction efficiency, side reactions, and purification losses often prevent this from being achieved.