How do percent purity and yield affect stoichiometric outcomes?

Percent purity and yield can significantly affect stoichiometric outcomes by altering the quantities of reactants and products.

In chemistry, stoichiometry is the calculation of reactants and products in chemical reactions. It is based on the law of conservation of mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed. Therefore, the total mass of the reactants must equal the total mass of the products. However, this calculation assumes that all reactants are pure and that the reaction goes to completion, yielding 100% of the theoretical product.

Percent purity refers to the proportion of a given substance that is pure, i.e., not contaminated with other substances. If a reactant is not 100% pure, it means that a portion of it will not participate in the reaction, which will affect the stoichiometric calculations. For example, if you have 10 grams of a reactant that is 90% pure, only 9 grams of it will actually react. This will result in less product being formed than predicted by the stoichiometric calculations.

Yield, on the other hand, refers to the amount of product actually obtained from a reaction, compared to the theoretical amount predicted by stoichiometry. Several factors can cause the actual yield to be less than the theoretical yield, including incomplete reactions, side reactions, and loss of product during purification. For example, if a reaction has a yield of 80%, it means that only 80% of the theoretical amount of product was actually obtained. This will also result in a discrepancy between the stoichiometric predictions and the actual outcomes.

In conclusion, percent purity and yield are crucial factors to consider in stoichiometry. They can significantly affect the quantities of reactants and products, leading to discrepancies between theoretical predictions and actual outcomes. Therefore, when performing stoichiometric calculations, it is important to take into account the percent purity of the reactants and the yield of the reaction.