Week 11 Lab – Percent Yield

CHEM 1701, Pre-Health Chemistry I

CONCEPTS
• mass-mass calculation • actual yield
• theoretical yield • percent yield

BACKGROUND
You can buy a bottle of 30 Tylenol pills for $10. But other medications can be
upwards of $500 per pill. Why? Why are some drugs so expensive?

In a perfect world where experiments operate under perfect conditions, an

experiment should make the amount of product you calculate from a mass-
mass calculation. This is called the theoretical yield. BUT: the theoretical
yield is almost never actually made. Why? Because science is not perfect and
chemical reactions can sometimes have a mind of their own…

What chemists get from an actual experiment is called the actual yield. The actual yield is the amount of
product a chemical reaction actually makes. This is the “real world, real conditions” amount. Actual yield can
only be determined by doing an experiment.

So, what does this have to do with drugs being so expensive?

• The actual yield in the production of some drugs is very small. In some cases, less than 2%.
• That means it takes a LOT of chemical to make a very SMALL amount of useable product. For example,
it might take 500 g of an expensive reactant to make only 2 g of usable product.
• This can make the drug very expensive to manufacture and the cost is passed onto the consumer.

MATERIALS
The following materials are in a basket at your station.
• 2 × 50 mL beaker • jar of NaHCO3
• 2 × watch glass • 2 × scoopula
• glass stir rod • dropper bottle 1.0 M HCl
• beaker tongs

The following materials are at the instructor station.

• 12 × matches or 12 × lighter to be distributed by the instructor when students are ready to light their Bunsen
burner

The following will be setup in advance at your station as shown in the image in the procedure.
• ring stand • wire gauze
• ring clamp • Bunsen burner
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
1.0 M HCl (HYDROCHLORIC ACID)
• Exercise caution when working with 1.0 M HCl.
• If you spill any on your skin, run under water and inform your instructor immediately.

BUNSEN BURNER
• Your instructor will demonstrate how to light a Bunsen burner.
• Work smart and safely when using a Bunsen burner.
• Never leave a Bunsen burner unattended. Doing so will result in expulsion from the lab.

Things to consider BEFORE lighting a Bunsen burner.

• Is your work area clear? Move papers, pencil cases etc. out of the way.
• Think about your physical location.
o Are you reaching over the burner?
o When the burner lights and the flame is live, is your physical location unsafe?

The SAFE WAY to light a Bunsen burner is outlined below.

• FIRST light the match or lighter. THEN turn on the gas. Always do it in this order.
• If the Bunsen burner does not light OR your match/lighter goes out, turn OFF the gas and start again from the
beginning. Do NOT leave the gas running while you re-light your fire source.
• Once lit, adjust the collar on the Bunsen burner to create a stable flame.
PROCEDURE 1 – MEASURING REAGENTS and SETUP

Each partner has their own materials and each partner performs the tasks below.

1) TARE the balance. The display screen should read 0.00 g. Place a 50 mL beaker and NOTE: If when you
watch glass on the balance and record the mass in COLUMN A. TARE the balance it
doesn’t quite get to
2) Remove the watch glass and place to the side. With the beaker ON the balance, TARE 0.00g, it “jumps
the balance again so the screen reads 0.00 g. around”, that’s okay.
Press TARE a few
3) With the beaker on the balance, measure out 0.30 g – 0.35 g of sodium bicarbonate times and move on. If
(NaHCO3). Don’t fuss and waste time – just get somewhere between 0.30 g – 0.35 g. it’s really bad, unplug
Record this mass in COLUMN B. the balance and start
from the beginning.
4) Remove the beaker from the balance and add 1 full dropper of 1.0 M hydrochloric
acid (HCl) to the beaker. Swirl to mix, use a glass stir rod if needed. Once dissolved, place the beaker on the
wire gauze and put the watch glass on top of the beaker. When done, your setup should look like this.

SAFETY NOTE:
During heating the
beaker contents will
splatter. The watch
glass is there to
protect you and
contain the splatter.
PROCEDURE 2 – EVAPORATING A LIQUID

INSTRUCTOR CHECK (once only at the start): Clear your station and create a tidy, safe workspace. When your
station is clear, call over your instructor for inspection. Your instructor is going to check your setup and confirm the area
around your Bunsen burner is clear. When your instructor confirms your area is safe, they will give you matches or a
lighter to light the Bunsen burner.

One partner does these tasks then the other partner does the same.

1) Follow the steps in the SAFETY section and from the DEMONSTRATION to safely light the Bunsen burner.

2) Heat the beaker for 1-2 minutes until the liquid in the beaker is completely evaporated and the beaker contents
are dry. Watch your beaker closely. It does not take long for the liquid to evaporate and you don’t want the
beaker to burn. When all the liquid is gone, turn off the gas. The white residue in the beaker is NaCl.

3) Use beaker tongs to remove the beaker and watch glass from the stand and place it on the bench to cool for ~5
minutes. While you are waiting you can complete another aspect of the lab. At this point, the other partner
can place their beaker on the stand and perform the steps above.

4) Once the beaker and watch glass are cool, there may be condensation on the bottom of the watch glass. If so,
gently lift the watch glass and use a paper towel to dab off any water.

5) TARE the balance and place the beaker and watch glass on the balance. Record the mass of the beaker + watch
glass + NaCl residue in COLUMN C on your worksheet. Perform the calculation in COLUMN D.

6) Complete the remaining questions on your worksheet.

7) Cleaning and reset:

• Return your matches or lighter to your instructor.
• Beakers can be cleaned in the sink using a scrub brush. You may need to use some soap.
• Return all materials to your station.

A B C
TEACHER USE ONLY: If the experiment results in unreasonable data, use this data.
63.15 g 0.31 g 63.28 g
Week 11 Lab – Percent Yield
CHEM 1701, Pre-Health Chemistry I

Full name: _______________________________ Station: ___A B Score: ____/5

(1 mark) Record your mass data below. Show all work and include all units.

A B C D=C–A
mass of 50 mL mass of NaHCO3 mass of beaker + watch actual yield of NaCl
beaker + watch glass glass + NaCl residue

(1 mark) Calculate the molar mass for each chemical. Show a full calculation.

sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3 sodium chloride, NaCl

molar
mass

(1 mark) Calculate the theoretical yield of NaCl for this experiment by completing a mass-mass calculation.
The reaction equation and a template are provided for you below. You must fill in the missing information
shown by ?? symbols.

HINT 1: massgiven is the mass of NaHCO3 in COLUMN B.

HINT 2: The balanced reaction equation is below so you can use coefficients to determine the moleswanted and molesgiven.
HINT 3: You calculated molar masses in the previous question.

Balanced Reaction Equation: HCl (l) + NaHCO3 (s) + heat → NaCl (s) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

Mass-mass Calculation:

1 mole moleswanted molar masswanted

= massgiven × × ×
molar massgiven molesgiven 1 mole

1 mole NaHCO3 ?? moles NaCl ?? g NaCl

= ?? g NaHCO3 × × ×
?? g NaHCO3 ?? moles NaHCO3 1 mole NaCl

× × ×
=
× ×

= g NaCl (round to 1 decimal place)

(1 mark) Perform an analysis by filling in the blanks below.

• The actual yield of NaCl is the amount determined experimentally in COLUMN D.

The actual yield of NaCl was ________________ g.

• The theoretical yield of NaCl is the amount determined from the MASS-MASS CALCULATION.
The theoretical yield of NaCl is ________________ g.

(1 mark) Calculate the % yield for the experiment by applying the formula below. Show a full calculation
including all units. Round your final answer to 1 decimal place.

actual yield
% yield = × 100
theoretical yield