If the specific rotation,  of a pure chiral compound is known, it is possible to use the observed specific rotation,  to determine the enantiomeric excess (ee), or "optical purity", of a sample of the compound, by using the formula:
For example, if a sample of bromobutane measured under standard conditions has an observed specific rotation of −9.2°, this indicates that the net effect is due to (9.2°/23.1°)(100%) = 40% of the R enantiomer. The remainder of the sample is a racemic mixture of the enantiomers (30% R and 30% S), which has no net contribution to the observed rotation. The enantiomeric excess is 40%; the total concentration of R is 70%.
However, in practice the utility of this method is limited, as the presence of small amounts of highly rotating impurities can greatly affect the rotation of a given sample. Moreover, the optical rotation of a compound may be non-linearly dependent on its enantiomeric excess because of aggregation in solution. For these reasons other methods of determining the enantiomeric ratio, such as gas chromatography or HPLC with a chiral column, are generally preferred.