Determine the empirical formula of a compound containing 48.38 grams of carbon, 8.12 grams of hydrogen, and 53.5 grams of oxygen. In an experiment, the molar mass of the compound was determined to be 180.15 g/mol. What is the molecular formula of the compound?

The empirical formula would be .

Explanation:

To find the empirical formula, we will first have to convert the mass of each element to moles of each element:

(48.38 g C) (1 mol/ 12.10 g C) = 4.028 mol C

(8.12 g H) (1 mol/ 1.008 g H) = 8.056 mol H

(53.38 g O) (1 mol/ 16.00 g O) = 3.336 mol O

Next, divide the number of moles of each by the smallest number of moles to find the ratio or the moles of each element:

(3.336 mol O/ 3.336) = 1 mol O

(4.028 mol C/ 3.336) = 1.2 mol C

(8.056 mol H/ 3.336) = 2.4 mol H

Finally, let's look at the mole ratio. We have to multiply all the mole ratios by a constant to get then all to be whole numbers. In this case, 5 would be the multiplication factor needed.

(1 mol O) (5) = 5 mol O

(1.2 mol C) (5) = 6 mol C

(2.4 mol H) (5) = 12 mol H

Now, the ratios are whole numbers, and we can write the empirical formula as thus: