What Is the Definition of Actual Yield?


Quick Answer

Actual yield is defined as the amount of a specified substance produced at the end of a chemical reaction performed in actuality, rather than theoretically. Actual yield is very often lower than the amount of substance predicted by chemical equations.

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Full Answer

Theoretical yield is the amount of product predicted to form from a chemical reaction, based simply upon pure mathematical abstractions. Theoretical yield is an idealization. Under real-world conditions, reactions may create less product due to impurities, competing chemical reactions or less than ideal conditions. Actual yield is the amount that is actually produced by a technique or experiment.

Actual yield and theoretical yield are used to find the percent yield, a measure of how much product was produced as compared to how much could have been produced ideally. A percent yield of 100 percent means that the reaction ran to completion and produced the exact amount of substance predicted by chemical equations.

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