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    PracticeAQA GCSEAQA GCSE Chemistry Foundation Tier Paper 1Question 08.4
    Medium2 marksStructured
    Quantitative chemistryAtom EconomyCalculation

    AQA GCSE · Question 08.4 · Quantitative chemistry

    Copper oxide reacts with hydrogen to produce copper.\nThe equation for the reaction is: CuO + H₂ → Cu + H₂O\nCalculate the percentage atom economy for obtaining copper from this reaction.\nUse the equation: Percentage atom economy = (Mᵣ of desired product / Total Mᵣ of reactants) × 100\nRelative atomic mass (Aᵣ): Cu = 63.5\nRelative formula masses (Mᵣ): H₂ = 2, CuO = 79.5

    How to approach this question

    1. Identify the desired product from the question. It is copper (Cu).\n2. Find the relative mass of the desired product. The Aᵣ of Cu is given as 63.5.\n3. Calculate the total relative mass of all the reactants. The reactants are CuO and H₂. Add their Mᵣ values together.\n4. Substitute these values into the given formula for percentage atom economy and calculate the result.

    Full Answer

    Mᵣ of desired product (Cu) = 63.5\nTotal Mᵣ of reactants (CuO + H₂) = 79.5 + 2 = 81.5\n\nPercentage atom economy = (63.5 / 81.5) × 100\nPercentage atom economy = 77.914...\nPercentage atom economy ≈ 77.9%
    Atom economy is a measure of how efficiently a reaction converts reactants into the desired product.\nThe formula is: \nPercentage atom economy = (Mᵣ of desired product / Total Mᵣ of reactants) × 100\n\n1. **Mᵣ of desired product:** The desired product is copper (Cu). Its relative atomic mass (Aᵣ) is given as 63.5.\n2. **Total Mᵣ of reactants:** The reactants are CuO and H₂. Their Mᵣ values are given as 79.5 and 2.\n Total Mᵣ = Mᵣ(CuO) + Mᵣ(H₂) = 79.5 + 2 = 81.5\n3. **Calculate atom economy:**\n Percentage atom economy = (63.5 / 81.5) × 100\n Percentage atom economy = 0.77914... × 100\n Percentage atom economy ≈ 77.9%

    Common mistakes

    ✗ Using the mass of the products instead of reactants for the denominator.\n✗ Using only one reactant in the denominator.\n✗ Calculation errors.
    Question 08.3All questionsQuestion 08.5

    Practice the full AQA GCSE Chemistry Foundation Tier Paper 1

    58 questions · hints · full answers · grading

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