Question

In the combustion of 1.99 g of an unknown compound containing only C, H, and o, 2.97 g CO, and 0.911 g H20. are produced. What is the empirical formula for the unknown compound? Assume all carbon goes to produce CO, and all hydrogen goes to produce H20.

Answer 1

The empirical formula of the compound containing 40.0% C, 6.71% H, and 53.28% O is CHO.

Step-by-step explanation:

The empirical formula of the compound containing 40.0% C, 6.71% H, and 53.28% O can be determined by converting the percentages to grams. Assuming a 100g sample, there would be 40.0g C, 6.71g H, and 53.28g O.

Next, we calculate the moles of each element using their molar masses:

Mole of C = 40.0g / 12.01 g/mol = 3.33 mol

Mole of H = 6.71g / 1.01 g/mol = 6.64 mol

Mole of O = 53.28g / 16.00 g/mol = 3.33 mol

Finally, we divide the number of moles by the smallest value to find the simplest whole-number ratio:

C : H : O = 3.33 mol : 6.64 mol : 3.33 mol = 1 : 2 : 1

The empirical formula of the compound is therefore CHO.