Question

If 9.8g water is used in electrolysis, what is the percent yield if 5.6g of oxygen was

Answer 1

Answer:

Approximately $64\%$.

Explanation:

$\displaystyle \text{Percentage Yield} = \frac{\text{Actual Yield}}{\text{Theoretical Yield}} \times 100\%$

The actual yield of $\rm O_2$ was given. The theoretical yield needs to be calculated from the quantity of the reactant.

Balance the equation for the hydrolysis of water:

$\rm 2\, H_2O \, (l) \to 2\, H_2\, (g) + O_2\, (g)$.

Note the ratio between the coefficient of $\rm H_2O\, (g)$ and $\rm O_2\, (g)$:

$\displaystyle \frac{n(\mathrm{O_2\, (g)})}{n(\mathrm{H_2O\, (aq)})} = \frac{1}{2}$.

This ratio will be useful for finding the theoretical yield of $\rm O_2\, (g)$.

Look up the relative atomic mass of hydrogen and oxygen on a modern periodic table.

• $\rm H$: $1.008$.
• $\rm O$: $15.999$.

Calculate the formula mass of $\rm H_2O$ and $\rm O_2$:

$M(\mathrm{H_2O}) =2\times 1.008 + 15.999 = 18.015\; \rm g \cdot mol^{-1}$.

$M(\mathrm{O_2}) =2\times 15.999 = 31.998\; \rm g \cdot mol^{-1}$.

Calculate the number of moles of molecules in $9.8\; \rm g$ of $\rm H_2O$:

$\displaystyle n(\mathrm{H_2O}) = \frac{m(\mathrm{H_2O})}{M(\mathrm{H_2O})} = \frac{9.8\; \rm g}{18.015\; \rm g \cdot mol^{-1}} \approx 0.543991\;\rm g \cdot mol^{-1}$.

Make use of the ratio $\displaystyle \frac{n(\mathrm{O_2\, (g)})}{n(\mathrm{H_2O\, (aq)})} = \frac{1}{2}$ to find the theoretical yield of $\rm O_2$ (in terms of number of moles of molecules.)

$\begin{aligned} n(\mathrm{O_2}) &= \displaystyle \frac{n(\mathrm{O_2\, (g)})}{n(\mathrm{H_2O\, (aq)})} \cdot n(\mathrm{H_2O}) \\ &\approx \frac{1}{2} \times 0.543991\; \rm mol \approx 0.271996\; \rm mol \end{aligned}$.

Calculate the mass of that approximately $0.271996\; \rm mol$ of $\rm O_2$ (theoretical yield.)

$\begin{aligned}m(\mathrm{O_2}) &= n(\mathrm{O_2}) \cdot M(\mathrm{O_2}) \\ &\approx 0.271996\; \rm mol \times 31.998\; \rm g \cdot mol^{-1} \approx 8.70331 \; \rm g \end{aligned}$.

That would correspond to the theoretical yield of $\rm O_2$ (in term of the mass of the product.)

Given that the actual yield is $5.6\; \rm g$, calculate the percentage yield:

$\begin{aligned}\text{Percentage Yield} &= \frac{\text{Actual Yield}}{\text{Theoretical Yield}} \times 100\% \\ &\approx \frac{5.6\; \rm g}{8.70331\; \rm g} \times 100\% \approx 64\%\end{aligned}$.