Question

Toluene, C₆H₅CH₃, is oxidized by air under carefully controlled conditions to benzoic acid, C₆H₅CO₂H, which is used to prepare the food preservative sodium benzoate, C₆H₅CO₂Na. What is the percent yield of a reaction that converts 1.000 kg of toluene to 1.21 kg of benzoic acid?

a) 78.5%
b) 85.3%
c) 92.1%
d) 97.6%

Answer 1

The percent yield of the reaction is approximately 99.1%, which is closest to option d) 97.6%.

Step-by-step explanation:

The percent yield of a reaction can be calculated by dividing the actual yield by the theoretical yield and multiplying by 100%. In this case, the actual yield is 1.21 kg of benzoic acid and the theoretical yield can be calculated using the balanced equation.

The balanced equation shows that 2 moles of toluene react to produce 2 moles of benzoic acid.

The molar mass of toluene is 92.14 g/mol and the molar mass of benzoic acid is 122.12 g/mol. Therefore, the theoretical yield of benzoic acid can be calculated as follows:

Theoretical yield = (1.000 kg toluene) x (2 moles benzoic acid / 2 moles toluene) x (122.12 g benzoic acid / 1 mole benzoic acid) = 1.221 kg benzoic acid

Now we can calculate the percent yield:

Percent yield = (Actual yield / Theoretical yield) x 100% = (1.21 kg / 1.221 kg) x 100% = 99.144%

Therefore, the percent yield of the reaction is approximately 99.1%, which is closest to option d) 97.6%.