Have no fear! Help is here!

First, the balanced chemical equation:

The reactants are sodium hydrogen carbonate and acetic acid. The products are sodium acetate, water, and carbon dioxide. Can you write the reaction now, including all states of matter? Hint: this is a double replacement reaction (sort of).

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Second: All those calculations!

Your first calculation is the actual yield for this reaction. How do you find out how much product was in your evaporating dish at the end of the reaction?

Your second calculation is the theoretical yield for this reaction. Using the amount of baking you started the lab with, do a stoichiometry calculation to determine the amount of sodium acetate you should get out of this reaction.

Your third calculation compares the amount of sodium acetate you actually got (first calculation) to the amount you predicted (second calculation). This is the percent yield, and is calculated like this: %yield = (actual/theoretical)´100.

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Finally, the conclusion!

Here’s the situation: the 425 mL of CO₂ is your required, actual yield. You have the percent yield for this reaction. (Calculation 3, above) Use those two values to calculate the theoretical yield of the CO₂. Hint: if your percent yield is less than 100%, you should find the theoretical amount of CO₂ goes up. If your %yield is greater than 100%, the theoretical amount of CO₂ should go down.

Then, use this new value for CO₂ to calculate the amount of sodium hydrogen carbonate, using a standard stoichiometry calculation. Be sure to use the density to convert mL of CO₂ to grams!

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