Amount of a Substance: Atom Economy

Question 1

What is the atom economy?

Answer 1

= what percentage of the mass of the reactant atoms ends up in the product we want.

Question 2

What is the equation for atom economy?

Answer 2

= mr of desired product/sum of molecular mass of all the reactants x 100
= based on chemical reaction, assumes percentage yield is 100%
= large numbers count
= any reaction with one product must have atom economy of 100%

Question 3

What does it mean if a reaction has a high atom economy?

Answer 3

= more efficient/sustainable
= less of the mass of the reactants end up as waste products

Question 4

What is another factor that should be taken into account?

Answer 4

= energy use
= if a reaction had a high atom economy but required a large amount of energy input it may be less sustainable with a different reaction with a low atom economy that required less energy

Question 5

What can the waste product of a reaction be used for?

Answer 5

= may be used as a starting material for another reaction
= increase overall stabability