A reaction was performed in which 3.4 g of benzoic acid was reacted with excess methanol to make 1.2 g of methyl benzoate. Calculate the theoretical yield and percent yield for this reaction.

Answer : The theoretical yield and percent yield for this reaction is, 3.78 grams and 31.7 % respectively.

Explanation : Given,

Mass of = 3.4 g

Molar mass of = 122.12 g/mol

First we have to calculate the moles of

Now we have to calculate the moles of

The balanced chemical equation is:

From the reaction, we conclude that

As, 1 mole of react to give 1 mole of

So, 0.0278 mole of react to give 0.0278 mole of

Now we have to calculate the mass of

Molar mass of  = 136.14 g/mole

The theoretical yield of produced is, 3.78 grams.

Now we have to calculate the percent yield of the reaction.

Theoretical yield of the reaction = 3.78 g

Experimental yield of the reaction = 1.2 g

The formula used for the percent yield will be :

Now put all the given values in this formula, we get:

The percent yield of the reaction is, 31.7 %