Theoretical Yields When reactants are not present in stoichiometric quantities, the limiting reactant determines the maximum amount of product that can be formed from the reactants. The amount of product calculated in this way is the theoretical yield, the amount obtained if the reaction occurred perfectly and the purification method were 100% efficient. In reality, less product is always obtained than is theoretically possible because of mechanical losses (such as spilling), separation procedures that are not 100% efficient, competing reactions that form undesired products, and reactions that simply do not run to completion, resulting in a mixture of products and reactants; this last possibility is a common occurrence. Therefore, the actual yield, the measured mass of products obtained from a reaction, is almost always less than the theoretical yield (often much less). The percent yield of a reaction is the ratio of the actual yield to the theoretical yield, multiplied by 100 to give a percentage: percent yield=actual yield (g)theoretical yield(g)×100%(3.7.29)