If you hadn’t added quite enough hydrochloric acid to consume all of your metal sample, what would the effect of this error be on the percent yield in your experiment? Would the actual yield (and thus the percent yield) be erroneously high, low, or unaffected by not adding enough HCl. Explain your answer
If you haven't added enough hydrochloric acid to consume all of your metal sample, the effect on the percent yield in your experiment would be an erroneously low value.
The percent yield is a calculation that compares the actual yield (the amount of product obtained experimentally) to the theoretical yield (the maximum amount of product that could be obtained based on stoichiometric calculations). It represents the efficiency of the reaction.
When hydrochloric acid is not added in sufficient quantity, it means that not all of the metal sample will react to form the desired product. This will lead to a lower actual yield because some of the metal will remain unreacted.
Since the percent yield is calculated by dividing the actual yield by the theoretical yield and multiplying by 100, a lower actual yield will result in a lower percent yield. The percent yield will be lower than it should be, indicating that the reaction did not proceed as efficiently as it could have.
In conclusion, not adding enough hydrochloric acid will lead to an erroneously low percent yield in the experiment.