Question

If 185 mg of acetaminophen were obtained from a tablet containing 350 mg of acetamino- phen, what would be the weight percentage recovery?

Answer 1

Percentage recovery gives us an idea of the amount of pure substance recovered after the chemical reaction. Percentage recovery can be more than 100 % or less than 100 %. Usually, in any experiment performed the weight percentage recovery will be less than 100. Percent recovery values greater than 100 show that the recovered compound is contaminated.

Amount of acetaminophen initially taken = 350 mg

Amount of acetaminophen obtained after recovery =185 mg

$Weight percentage recovery =\frac{mass recovered}{mass originally taken}*100$

                                                = $\frac{185 mg}{350 mg}*100$

                                               = 52.9%