Atom Economy and Gas Volumes
Atom economy measures how much of your starting materials actually becomes useful product. It's calculated as: (Mr of desired product ÷ Mr of all products) × 100. High atom economy means less waste, which saves money and helps the environment.
Companies love reactions with high atom economy because they're not throwing away expensive raw materials. It's all about sustainability and keeping costs down in industrial processes.
For gas volume calculations, there's a brilliantly simple formula: Volume (dm³) = moles × 24. This only works at room temperature and pressure, but that's usually what exam questions assume anyway.
When you're calculating masses using concentration in mol/dm³, work in two steps: first find moles using concentration × volume, then convert to mass using moles × Mr.
Pro Tip: Always check your units match up - if concentration is in mol/dm³, make sure volume is in dm³, not cm³!