Question

A 5.05 g sample of a compound that contains only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen was combusted, and yielded 11.69 g CO₂ and 2.392 g H₂O. What is the lowest possible molar mass for this compound?

Answer 1

To find the lowest possible molar mass for the compound, we need to calculate the masses of carbon and hydrogen in the sample.

Step-by-step explanation:

Upon combustion, 1 mol of CO₂ is produced for each mole of carbon atoms in the original sample. Similarly, 1 mol of H₂O is produced for every 2 mol of hydrogen atoms present in the sample. The masses of carbon and hydrogen in the original sample can be calculated from these ratios, the masses of CO₂ and H₂O, and their molar masses. Because the units of molar mass are grams per mole, we must first convert the masses from milligrams to grams.