Define the term ‘atom economy’.

Atom economy is a measure of the proportion of starting materials that end up as useful products.

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What is the formula for atom economy?

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Is it better to have a high or low atom economy?

A high atom economy is better, as it means a greater proportion of reactants become useful products.

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What are the problems with low atom economy? 

  1. It will be more expensive as more reactants will be required.
  2. It will be less sustainable as it will use more resources.
  3. There will be more waste products, which will have to be disposed of (this could be expensive, or harm the environment).

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Name 6 other factors, besides atom economy, should be considered when choosing between two different methods of producing a useful product?

  1. Percentage yield.
  2. Cost of raw materials.
  3. Position of equilibrium.
  4. Rate of reaction.
  5. Cost of maintaining the right conditions.
  6. Environmental impact of waste products.

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Without doing any calculation, what is the atom economy of this reaction:


CaO + CO2  ➔ CaCO3

100% as there is only a single product.


All reactions with a single product will have an atom economy of 100%.

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