Final answer:
A percent yield of 103% for recovering calcium carbonate often implies contamination or errors in measurement. Perfect yields are difficult to achieve, and a 100% yield is ideal. Results over 100% can happen due to impure product or weighing errors.
Step-by-step explanation:
When conducting a chemical reaction in a laboratory setting and measuring percent yield, a result over 100% can indicate several possible errors or conditions. The ideal percent yield is at most 100%, representing a perfect recovery of the product without any loss or contamination. If a yield greater than 100% is observed, oftentimes it is due to either impurities in the final product or errors in measurement.
For recovering calcium carbonate with a 103% yield, this suggests that the product may have been contaminated with other substances or still wet with a solvent such as water, artificially increasing its mass. It could also be due to inaccuracies in measurement, such as misreading the scale when weighing reactants or the product, or using an improperly calibrated scale.
- In a laboratory context, it's often understood that achieving a perfect 100% yield is very difficult due to practical challenges like transferring materials without spilling. While a percent yield of 80%-90% is typically considered very good, industrial processes strive to get as close to 100% as possible to reduce waste and costs.