When 9.08 times 10^5 grams (one ton) of sodium chloride are electrolyzed in the commerical production of Chlorine, 5.24 times 10^5 grams of Chlorine are produced: 2 NaCl (aq) + 2 H2O (l) >>H2 (g) + Cl2 (g) + 2 NaOH (aq). Calculate the percentage yield.
To calculate the percentage yield, we need to compare the actual yield of chlorine produced with the theoretical yield. The theoretical yield is the amount of chlorine that would be produced if the reaction went to completion with 100% efficiency.
In this case, we are given that 9.08 times 10^5 grams of sodium chloride (NaCl) are electrolyzed, and 5.24 times 10^5 grams of chlorine (Cl2) are produced.
To find the theoretical yield of chlorine, we need to determine the stoichiometry of the reaction. From the balanced equation:
2 NaCl (aq) + 2 H2O (l) >> H2 (g) + Cl2 (g) + 2 NaOH (aq)
We can see that for every 2 moles of sodium chloride, we should get 1 mole of chlorine produced.
First, we need to convert the mass of sodium chloride to moles. The molar mass of NaCl is 58.44 grams/mol.
moles of NaCl = mass of NaCl / molar mass of NaCl
moles of NaCl = (9.08 times 10^5 grams) / (58.44 grams/mol)
Now, we can use stoichiometry to calculate the moles of chlorine produced. Since the ratio is 2:1 (NaCl to Cl2), we divide the moles of NaCl by 2.
moles of Cl2 = moles of NaCl / 2
Finally, we can convert the moles of chlorine to grams using the molar mass of chlorine, which is 70.90 grams/mol.
mass of Cl2 = moles of Cl2 * molar mass of Cl2
Now we have the theoretical yield of chlorine in grams. To calculate the percentage yield, we divide the actual yield (given as 5.24 times 10^5 grams) by the theoretical yield and multiply by 100.
percentage yield = (actual yield / theoretical yield) * 100
Now you can plug in these values into the equations to calculate the percentage yield.