14.

1 Percentage purity of a chemical reaction product

Purity is very important e.g. for analytical standards in laboratories or pharmaceutical products
where impurities could have dangerous side effects in a drug or medicine.
o However in any chemical process it is almost impossible to get 100.00% purity and so
samples are always analysed in industry to monitor the quality of the product.
o The more a product is processed e.g. by distillation or crystallisation, the more costly the
process, but the purer the product gets.
o Somewhere there has to be a compromise, so it is important that before sale, the
product is assayed or analysed as to its percentage purity.
o It would not be acceptable e.g. in the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture a drug for
treating us, with impurities in it, that may have harmful effects.
o Similarly in fuels for road vehicles, which themselves have additives in to enhance engine
performance, you wouldn't want other impurities that may cause engine damage.
o You can apply the same sort of argument to thousands of domestic and industrial
products from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
o An assay is any procedure used to analyse and test for its purity of the % content of a
specified component in a mixture of a % of an element or ion etc.
% purity is the percentage of the material which is the actually desired chemical in a sample of it.

MASS of USEFUL PRODUCT

PERCENT
------------------------------------------------------
PURITY = 100 x
in TOTAL MASS of SAMPLE

Example 14.1 (Q1) Purity calculation

o A 12.00g sample of a crystallised pharmaceutical product was found to contain 11.57g
of the active drug.
o Calculate the % purity of the sample of the drug.
o % purity = actual amount of desired material x 100 / total amount of material
o % purity = 11.57 x 100 / 12 = 96.4% (to 1dp)
o -
Example 14.1 (Q2) Purity calculation
o Sodium chloride was prepared by neutralising sodium hydroxide solution with dilute
hydrochloric acid. The solution was gently heated to evaporate most of the water and
allow the salt to crystallise. The crystals were separated from any remaining solution
and dried on a filter paper. However, the crystals are not necessarily completely dry.
o The salt maybe required to be completely anhydrous, that is, not containing any water.
o The prepared salt was analysed for water by heating a sample in an oven at 110oC to
measure the evaporation of any residual water.
o The following results were obtained and from them calculate the % purity of the salt.
o Mass of evaporating dish empty = 51.32g.
o Mass of impure salt + dish = 56.47g
o Mass of dish + salt after heating = 56.15g
o Therefore the mass of original salt = 56.47 - 51.32 = 5.15g
o and the mass of pure salt remaining = 56.15 - 51.32 = 4.83g
o % salt purity = 4.83 x 100 / 5.15 = 93.8% (to 1dp)
 o -
Example 14.1 (Q3) Purity calculation - an assay calculation is sketched out below for A Level
students + link to others.
o Titrations can be used to analyse the purity of a substance e.g. here an acid (aspirin) is
titrated with standard sodium hydroxide solution of concentration 0.1000 mol dm-3.
o The aspirin is dissolved in ethanol solvent, diluted with deionised water and titrated with
standardised 0.100 mol/dm3 sodium hydroxide solution using phenolphthalein indicator,
the end-point is the first permanent pink colour.
o An assay calculation is 'sketched out' below.

o Advanced AS Q17 & Q20 examples of purity-titration calculation based on an organic

acid titrations

Example 14.1 (4) Purity calculation - an assay calculation is sketched out below for A Level
students + link to others.
o Even at pre-A level you can do a simple titration and analyse an aspirin sample without
using the mole concept in the calculation e.g. the above assay calculation could be
presented via a reacting mass calculation as follows ...
o 0.300g of aspirin was titrated with sodium hydroxide solution of concentration
4.00g/dm3.
o If the aspirin required 16.45 cm3 of the NaOH(aq) to neutralise it, calculate the percent
purity of the aspirin.
The simplified equation for the reaction is ...
C6H4(OCOCH3)COOH + NaOH ==> C6H4(OCOCH3)COONa + H2O
 Mr(aspirin) = 180, Mr(NaOH) = 40 (atomic masses: C = 12, H = 1, O = 16, Na =
23)
Therefore the reacting mass ratio is 180g aspirin reacts with 40g of sodium
hydroxide.
The titration was 16.45 cm3, so, converting the cm3 to dm3,
the mass of NaOH used in the titration = 4.00 x 16.45/1000 = 0.0658g,
so we can scale this up to get the mass of aspirin titrated,
therefore the mass of aspirin titrated = 0.0658 x 180 / 40 = 0.296g
therefore the % purity = 100 x 0.296 / 0.300 = 98.7%

What is the volume in dm3 of 0.85 g of a gas of molecular mass 17? (1 mol gas = 24 dm3 at room
temp.

A. 0.6

B. 2.4

C. 1.2

D. 3.4

Given the equation for calcium carbonate dissolving in hydrochloric acid:

CaCO3(s) + 2HCl(aq) ==> CaCl2(aq) H2O(l) + CO2(g)
Calculate the volume of carbon dioxide, in dm3, when 400 g of calcium carbonate dissolves in the acid.
(Ar's: Ca=40, C=12, O=16, Cl=35.5, 1 mol gas = 24 dm3 at room temp28]

A. 48

B. 6

C. 24

D. 96

Given the equation for aluminium dissolving in dilute sulphuric acid:

2Al(s) + 3H2SO4(aq) ==> Al2(SO4)3(aq) + 3H2(g)
What volume of hydrogen, in dm3, when 27g of aluminium dissolves? (Ar's: Al=27, H=1, S=32, O=16, 1
mol gas = 24 dm3 at room temp./press.) [mvg-26]

A. 18

B. 36

C. 24
 D. 12

Given the equation for magnesium dissolving in hydrochloric acid:

Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) ==> MgCl2(aq) + H2(g)
What mass of magnesium in g, will form 1.2 dm3 of hydrogen gas? (Ar's Mg=24, H=1, Cl=35.5, 1 mol gas
= 24 dm3 at room temp.

A. 2.4

B. 0.6

C. 1.2

D. 28.8

Given the equation for magnesium dissolving in hydrochloric acid:

Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) ==> MgCl2(aq) + H2(g)
What volume of hydrogen gas, in dm3, is formed when 72g of magnesium dissolves in the acid?
(Ar's Mg=24, H=1, Cl=35.5, 1 mol gas = 24 dm3 at room temp

A. 36

B. 72

C. 24

D. 48